With the crisis lost 21,5 billions of household consumption. Collapsed shops and shops: 200 thousand less in the last 10 years

Compared to 2007 (pre-crisis year), Italian households have "cut" consumption by an amount equal to 21,5 billion euros. Last year, the total expenditure of households in our country amounted to just over 1.000 billion euros. Despite the contraction, this item continues to be the most important component of the national GDP (equal to 60,3 percent of the total). To say it is the CGIA Studies Office.

As was to be expected, the South was the most significant geographical breakdown. From the 2007 to the 2018 the southern families have "cut" the average monthly expenditure of 131 euros (on average of 1.572 euros per year), those of the North of 78 euros (936 euros per year) and those of the Center of 31 euros (372 euros per year).

The artisans and small shopkeepers also paid the bill. The coordinator of the Paolo Zabeo Studies Office states:

"Small shops and craft shops struggle to leave the crisis behind. These businesses live almost exclusively on household consumption and although there has been a slight recovery in recent years, the benefits of this turnaround are not felt. From the 2007, pre-crisis year, at 2018 the value of retail sales in neighborhood stores dropped by 14,5 per cent, while in large retailers, by contrast, it rose by 6,4 per cent. This trend also continued in the first 9 months of the 2019: while in supermarkets, discount stores and department stores sales increased by 1,2 per cent, in the shops and in the shops below the house the contraction was 0,5 per cent ".

CGIA Secretary Renato Mason underlines: “Although the 2020 maneuver has averted the increase in VAT and from next July low-income employees will benefit from the tax wedge cut, the tax burden continues to be too high. The increase in unemployment recorded with the economic crisis is negatively affecting consumption. Moreover, as the data on crafts and small businesses show, it has become increasingly difficult to do business, also because the weight of bureaucracy and the difficulty of accessing credit have forced many very small entrepreneurs to throw in the towel definitively ".

Still with regard to household consumption, at the regional level the most negative situations in absolute terms and expressed in average nominal values ​​occurred in Umbria (- 443 euro per month), in Veneto (-378 euro) and in Sardinia (-324 EUR). On the other hand, the results obtained in Liguria (+ 333 euros per month), in the Valle d'Aosta (+ 188 euros) and in Basilicata (+ 133 euros) are against the trend. The difficult situation continued also in the last year, especially in the North: in Lombardy, in Trentino Alto Adige, in Emilia Romagna, in Piedmont, in Veneto and in Friuli Venezia Giulia, the average monthly expenditure of families in the 2018 was lower than that relating to 2017.

From the analysis of the spending functions, however, still between the 2007 and the 2018 the most important contraction concerned the purchase of goods (-10,3 per cent), while services grew by 7 per cent. In detail, non-durable goods (eg personal care products, medicines, household cleaners, etc.) have collapsed by 13,6 per cent, while semi-durable goods (eg clothing, shoes, books, etc.) have shrunk by 4,5 percent and the durable ones (eg cars, home furnishings, appliances, etc.) of 2,8 per cent. The fall in the purchase of goods continued this year: between the first half of the 2019 and the same period of the 2018 the contraction was of 0,4 per cent with a peak of -1,1 per cent of non-durable goods. Interesting, instead, the outcome of durable goods: this year the growth was of 2,9 per cent.

Among the most significant items of expenditure it should be pointed out that of transport (cars, fuels, train, bus, tram, etc.): between 2007 and 2018 the fall was even 16,8 per cent and continued this year with a worrying -1 percent. Otherwise, telecommunications (mobile phones, tablets and telephone services, etc.) have scored extraordinary scores: in the last 10 years + 20,1 per cent and in the last year + 7,7 per cent.

Retail sales, which make up around 70 per cent of total household consumption, have fallen by 11 per cent in the last 5,2 years. However, those registered at large retailers increased by 6,4 per cent, while in small distribution (artisan shops and small shops) 14,5 per cent fell. Although the gap has definitely narrowed, even in these first 9 months of the 2019 the signs have remained the same: + 1,2 per cent in the large and -0,5 per cent in the small distribution.

Researcher at the Nicola Nicolai Research Office declares: “Even as a result of this sharp decline in household consumption, the number of small businesses and craft businesses has fallen in number. Between September 2009 and the same month of this year the active artisan businesses / shops decreased by 178.500 units (-12,1 per cent), while the stock of small shops fell by almost 29.500 units (-3,8 per cent). Overall, therefore, we have lost more than almost 200 thousand neighborhood stores in 10 years ”.

In percentage terms the region most affected by the die-off of artisan companies was Sardinia, which in the last 10 years has seen the number of 19,1 down. Abruzzo is followed with 18,3 per cent and Umbria with 16,6 per cent.

On the other hand, the performance of companies active in small businesses suffered the most significant reduction in Valle d'Aosta with 18,8 per cent, in Piedmont with 14,2 per cent and in Friuli Venezia Giulia with 11,6 per cent. Compared to the negative trend, Calabria (+ 3 per cent), Lazio (+ 3,3 per cent) and Campania (+ 4,6 per cent) are the opposite.

With the crisis lost 21,5 billions of household consumption. Collapsed shops and shops: 200 thousand less in the last 10 years

| Economics |