2.18 million families and 5.6 million people in conditions of absolute poverty in Italy. ISTAT certifies this data for 2022 and has photographed a decidedly worsened situation. In fact, families in absolute poverty grow by more than half a percentage point and represent 8.3% of the total. Individuals in critical economic conditions represent 9.7% of the total, an increase of 0.6% compared to 2021.
A worsening, explains the national statistics institute, largely due to the strong acceleration of inflation – +8.7% the variation in the harmonized consumer price index – which had a greater impact on less well-off families – +12.1% is o annual price variation estimated for the first fifth of families, that is, the group with the lowest equivalent incomes. The consumption expenditure of the poorest families, despite growing strongly, fell by 2.5% in real terms. In simple words: less rich families buy less, but spend more. And what is the role of social bonuses at this stage? According to Istat estimates, those relating to energy and gas contributed to containing the spread of poverty. The institute estimates that the measures reduced the incidence by seven tenths of a point.
Absolute poverty then appears irregular across the peninsula: highest in the South (10.7%) with a peak in the South (11.2%), attenuating in the Northeast (7.9%) and Northwest (7.2%). %). The Center, however, confirms itself as one of the areas with the lowest incidence of absolute poverty (6.4%). Last fact: the intensity of absolute poverty, in short “how poor the poor are”. The index shows a not very sharp reduction at a national level – from 18.2% to 18.9% in 2021 – and different trends on the peninsula: stable in the North, decreasing beforehand in the Center and South.
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.
