For the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, Italians are also forced to cut food spending, which falls by 5.5%.
This is what emerges from a Coldiretti analysis disclosed on the occasion of the dissemination of Istat data on retail trade in February 2021.
The agricultural organization underlines that "this is a sharp turnaround after the food sector was the sector that had best resisted the crisis with an increase in retail sales also determined by the longer time spent at home by Italians in lockdown" .
"Now the worsening of the crisis - adds Coldiretti - directly affects the essential consumption of families starting from food. In particular, it is noted that food sales in all types of commercial, from large-scale distribution ( -6.1%) to small shops (-2.9%) and even discount stores (-1.5%). "It is the dramatic effect - it is commented - of the presence in Italy of 5.6 million people in absolute poverty, one million more than last year, with a negative record since the beginning of the century, according to Coldiretti's analysis of Istat data ".
Among the new poor - the organization notes - there are those who have lost their jobs, small traders or artisans who have had to close, people employed in the underground who do not enjoy particular subsidies or public aid and have no savings set aside, as well as many temporary workers or with occasional activities who have been stopped by the limitations made necessary by the spread of infections for Covid.
Coldiretti concludes by pointing out that "precisely for this reason the initiative promoted by Coldiretti, Filiera Italia and Campagna Amica was born with the offer of a package of over 50 kilos with 100% Made in Italy products".
