In 2023, Italians are at risk of facing an average cut of +2,435 euros per family due to price and tariff increases that, unfortunately, will also continue in the course of the new year. A number that does not take into account possible increases in electricity and gas bills, whose evolution will depend on the market and the effectiveness of the new price cap measures and those that the Italian government will adopt in the coming months. The information is from Codacons, which today makes estimates of the biggest expenses that await consumers in the new year. All analysts agree that the energy crisis will also be felt in 2023, with direct consequences on retail prices and service tariffs. In particular, price lists for food products will remain at high levels, while other expenditure items, from insurance to telephone services, will reverse the downward trend in the new year and will once again register increases. Not only that: even mortgage payments are destined to suffer new increases as a result of the decisions – already announced – of the ECB. To all this must be added the increases in tolls and fuel that will aggravate the blow to the pockets of Italians.
Taking into account the main items of expenditure borne by citizens, for food, which represent the primary consumption of families, in 2023 retail prices should start a slow decline compared to current records, but will still remain at high levels , determining equality of consumption and an increase in expenditure estimated at around +507 euros per year per family, analyzes Codacons. Travel will be more expensive (+490 euros on average) due to tariffs in the transport sector affected by the energy crisis and the end of the reduction of excise taxes on fuel, while in accommodation and catering services the increases will be more contained and will result in a higher outlay of around 76 euros per core. Motor liability rates, which have already started to reverse course in the last months of 2022, are set to rise even further in 2023, with an estimated increase of +18 euros per family.
Even telephone operators are updating their tariffs, adapting tariffs and offers to the new economic environment and communicating changes in conditions to their customers: between fixed and mobile telephony, the highest annual expense will be around +30 euros per core. For banking services, smaller increases are expected (around 9 euros) while local taxes and fees are expected to generate an increase in expenditure on average equal to +45 euros, due to the decisions of many municipalities to adjust taxes upwards to recover the losses incurred. in 2022 due to high bills. Those who took out a variable rate mortgage should take into account a higher expense with installments of +1,260 euros in 2023, as a result of the rate hikes decided in December by the ECB and the forthcoming increases announced by Lagarde for the new year. Energy bills deserve a separate discussion, on which there are several unknowns that make estimates and forecasts impossible: in the months of January and February, with the onset of cold weather, energy prices should rise significantly again. The new price cap mechanism launched by the EU will also play a role in gas bills, but there are more than doubts about its real effectiveness. Finally, there is the sword of Damocles from the expiry of the blockade to unilateral changes to contracts introduced by the Bis Aid Decree, extended by the Meloni government until June 2023, which, together with the possibility of raising the prices of expired contracts, will lead to an increase in electricity and gas tariffs in the free market.
Source: IL Tempo
Roy Brown is a renowned economist and author at The Nation View. He has a deep understanding of the global economy and its intricacies. He writes about a wide range of economic topics, including monetary policy, fiscal policy, international trade, and labor markets.
