Some 27% of Italian consumers believe that the country will see an acceleration in its economy this year, while 19% predict Italy will enter a recession, while 7% believe Italy will exit the eurozone.
The findings come from the latest edition of the Coop Report, published each year by Coop Italia in conjunction with research firm Nomisima, which surveys Italian consumers on a number of key socio-economic issues.
The study found that the vast majority of Italian consumers expect their utility bills to increase, as well as transportation (31%, up from 18% last year) and health (24%, compared to 21%) costs to rise.
'The year 2019 begins full of expectations, but also many unknown factors,' the report reads.
'Economic deceleration and contraction of real wages on one side will cause a change in GDP less than 1% (0.6%), while the purchasing power of households could benefit from expected new measures.'
Food Categories
In terms of food purchases, 25% of consumers believe they will spend more on products with wholemeal qualities, with 21% purchasing more 'traditional' products, and 19% investing more in organic and 'bio' products.
At the same time, consumption of certain food categories is expected to decrease: just 11% said they will likely consume more vegetables, with 45% saying they expect to reduce consumption or not consume at all; 10% said they expect to consume more gluten- and lactose-free products, with 47% anticipating a decline in consumption or no consumption at all.
Christmas retail sales were up across Italy, the report found, however this was only due to the growth of the discounters.
In terms of regional optimism, the report also found that the south of the country, as well as Italian islands, are marginally more optimistic about the economic forecast, while the North is 'decidedly more sceptical'.
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
