ISTAT Updates 2026 Spending Basket: Reflecting Changing Italian Consumer Habits
The Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) has recently updated its spending basket for 2026, a crucial step in accurately calculating inflation. this basket represents the goods and services purchased by a “typical” Italian household throughout the year. The revisions reflect evolving consumer habits observed throughout the previous year, moving beyond mere spending predictions to document actual purchasing trends.
Several noteworthy additions signal shifts in Italian lifestyles. Items like school uniforms, knitting yarn, crochet supplies, and bathroom mats have seen a resurgence in popularity. Furthermore, increased purchases of home security systems and private ambulance services indicate growing concerns regarding safety and healthcare. The updated basket also includes new categories such as firewood (including barbecue charcoal), camping equipment like tents and backpacks, and digital software - specifically antivirus programs and other digital tools, excluding gaming.
This year, ISTAT adopted the new Ecoicop classification for price surveys and, for the first time, incorporated spending on gambling and slot machines into the Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices.The calculations are based on approximately 27 million price quotes and contributions from 80 municipalities.
However, the updated basket hasn’t been without criticism. Consumer advocacy group Codacons expressed concerns that the weight assigned to essential expenses like housing and transportation is too low, especially given their significant impact on household budgets. They point to a decrease in weighting for “Housing, water, electricity, gas and fuels” (-0.25% compared to 2025) and “Transport” (-1.04%) as potentially misrepresentative. Codacons also questioned the relevance of some new additions, such as school uniforms and knitting supplies, arguing they don’t accurately reflect broader spending patterns. They did acknowledge the inclusion of home security systems as a more pertinent reflection of current consumer needs.
Meanwhile, ISTAT’s latest inflation data reveals a core inflation rate (excluding energy and fresh food) of 1.8% compared to January 2025. Overall inflation, encompassing the entire “shopping cart,” stands at 2.1%. This increase is primarily driven by rising prices in unprocessed food (+2.5%), processed food (+2.2%),housing-related services (+4.4%),and tobacco (+3.3%).
Keywords: ISTAT, Inflation, Italy, Consumer Spending, Spending Basket, Cost of Living, Economic Trends, Household Budgets, Price Index.