Consumption, a country on pause with little hope. Italians take refuge in small whims

How do Italians get to the beginning of 2024? With what state of mind and perspectives? The Coop Research Office takes care of photographing a “country on pause”. Having returned from a difficult year – against the backdrop of two wars, climate catastrophes and the concrete loss of purchasing power – Italians are facing with “firm imperturbability” a 2024 in which between uncertain electoral rounds, new geopolitical tensions and the slowdown of global economies, there will still be many opportunities that could change the destinies of the world.

The desire for change is there but no one believes in it. And those who pay the price are the big projects: almost one citizen in 3 intends to buy a house, or would like to change country, but already knows that he won’t do it (a figure that rises to 39% among 18-24 year olds); similarly, 30% of employed people would like to change jobs but know that it will not be possible. What is especially striking is that among young people aged 20-40, half (51%) say they are not at all interested in becoming a parent, while a further 28% would like a child, but already foresee that it will not be possible. In short, a child as a burden or a pipe dream.

If hope tends to wane (now only 22% indicate it) and the prediction of a concrete change is no longer expected (12%), words such as serenity (33%) and acceptance (28%) find space instead. By dint of postponements and renunciations, in fact, Italians settle for a life made up of small things, they live by subtraction rather than by additions, and the future of the country contracts in a temporal dynamic dominated by the present.

The only two expenditure items for which Italians expect an increase for 2024 are expenses for health and well-being (increasing for 24% of the sample) and those for domestic food consumption (16%).

But even at the table, the cost of spending rhymes on the one hand with the quality-price ratio, which 66% of Italians consider as the first reason for purchasing, and on the other with the concepts of healthy, simple and authentic that are associated more and more frequently to what you eat. And in fact, fruit and vegetables return to the tables in 2024 in the top 5 of growing products, followed by fish, while desserts, cold cuts and spirits stand out among the sacrifices.

Almost a third of Italians (31%) declare that they will dedicate more time to preparing food at home and in any case the main purchasing drivers are the quality-price ratio in first place (at least for 66% of Italians), convenience and savings (50%) and health and well-being (41%). Among the adjectives chosen to define the food of 2024, the most popular is healthy (45%), then inexpensive (44%), followed by sustainable (27%) and simple/authentic and essential (26 and 25%). Finally, where can you buy it? In the most difficult months of 2023, many families turned to and became fond of discount stores: this habit of buying while saving will remain in the new year.