Lower income means higher burden
Lower-income households carry a far heavier burden than others due to continued price hikes, not only because of the mismatch in the growth of incomes and especially of those who live from wage labor in the last 4.5years, but also because the expenses they mainly make, on food and rent, are those in which the largest appreciations are recorded.
Although prices in the last 4.5 years have risen 15.01%, the increase is much greater, by four percentage points, and stands at 19.01% for households with a monthly income up to 750 euros.
The categories where the spending of the poorest households is mainly directed are those in which the biggest price increases were recorded in recent years. The “champions” are food and non-alcoholic beverages, with prices having increased between July 2019 and February 2024 by 34.93%, followed by housing (17.18%) due to rising rents, while in 2022 and 2023 heating costs skyrocketed.
According to the analysis by the Netrino consultancy firm, with extensive experience especially in matters of organized food retailing and processing, while increases in food burdened households on average by 49%, the burden on households with incomes up to €750 is 59% and in households with incomes from €751 to €1,100 it is 60%.
