(ANSA) - ROME, DECEMBER 03 - "Setting the tables for Christmas will cost Italians this year, with the same consumption, 340 million euros more than last year. But already 3 out of 10 families are ready to cut spending linked to the holidays to cope with the abnormal increases in retail prices".
This was stated by Assoutenti, who carried out a study to understand how much the traditional Christmas lunch will cost in 2022.
"Compared to last Christmas, today 10.5% more is spent on meat, 10% more on fish, 21.6% more on eggs, 41.7% more on butter, 52 .3% more for seed oil - states the association - Sugar rises by 49%, vegetables by 15.2%, mineral water by 15.5%.It will also cost more to toast for the new year: the wine goes up by 6%, liqueurs by 5.3%, beer by 10.3%.There are also sharp increases for milk (preserved milk costs 33.1% more, fresh semi-skimmed milk costs 20% more), cheese (+16.8%), rice (+35.3%), flour and cereals (+23.5%), bread (+15.9%) and pasta (+21.3%).
Price increases which, for the same consumption compared to last year, will raise the expenditure of Italians for Christmas lunch and dinner by around 340 million euros, bringing the total cost of Christmas-related food purchases to exceed 2.8 billion euros" - calculate Absusers.
According to the association, however, to contain spending for the holidays, 3 out of 10 families are ready to cut Christmas consumption.
"The price emergency also hits Christmas and risks leading to a significant reduction in consumption by citizens - warns the president Furio Truzzi - The recent choices of the Government do not seem to go in the direction of defending the purchasing power of families, considering that the the increase in excise duties that started last December 1st will cause a further rise in retail prices and will affect the pockets of citizens who will travel by car during the upcoming holidays".
(HANDLE).