Every month a Rome a family average – a couple without children or with a child without income – spends € 3,128.78 to eat, dress, pay rent and bulletin, move (by car or public transport) or to have fun. To keep. To make this calculation for “Il Messaggero” was the research office of theNational Consumers Unionprocessing the data Istat on the main items that make up the current panere.

Airplanes, sting in the summer: tickets at double prices for Europe (Fiumicino-Paris costs 355 euros)

Families, expenses to be registered

And two considerations arise spontaneously: in Rome a family spends about 200 euros a month less to support themselves than in Milan, a city where wages (in the private sector) are higher, the best services and unemployment is lower. If an average Roman family weren’t enough, an income between 2,700 and 2,800 per month: the difference with what they spend – between 300 and 400 euros – is made up by drawing on savings or by borrowing.

THE STRAIGHT
This is the state of the art. The National Consumers Union has calculated that at the current rate of the cost of living, at the current end of 2022, families could pay 1,426 euros more for their shopping. “Even if it owes it to Rome – notes Massimiliano Dona, president of the UNC – it is slightly lower than the national average, in April 5.5 percent against 6, the sting for families is not only equally unsustainable but, being the cost of living in the greater capital, is higher, with an average annual rise of 1426 euros, compared to 1408 euros for a typical Italian family. Even for a family of 3 members, today the most widespread in the country, the highest annual expenditure is equal to 1717 euros for the Romans, against 1684 for the Italian average “. Utilities (+19.4 per cent), transport (+6.1) and food (+5) grew more.

CAROVITA
But for years life in Rome has become more expensive. In 2019, the year before Covid and therefore more reliable in terms of prices and consumption, average household spending was close to 2,800 euros, in line with median incomes. What has changed in less than three years? Here too the pandemic that increased all intermediate costs for companies (logistics and components), then the Russian-Ukrainian war, with the blows on raw materials (fuel and wheat) had an impact. This can be better understood by looking at how much each single item affects the family budget. First in this ranking the house: adding rent, utilities or extraordinary maintenance we are at 1,361.11 per month. This is followed by the purchase of food and non-alcoholic drinks (454.56 euros), considering public transport, fuel and parking (243.28), the bills of hotels and restaurants (169.27), entertainment and culture (157.56 euros ), health care (144.95). Almost 100 euros are spent on clothing and footwear, just over 67 for broadband or mobile phone subscriptions.

Beyond the cost of living, there is a strong propensity to buy in the capital. As noted by the Findomestic Mobility and IT Observatory, in 2021 the Romans spent 5,208 billion euros on durable goods, placing the capital in first place among the 107 Italian provinces. More specifically, 1.2 billion were committed to buy a new car, 1.5 billion for a used one, 1.1 billion to change furniture, 382 million for household appliances and 154 for motor vehicles.