Every day, the correspondents’ club describes how the same current event is illustrated in two countries.
For several months, inflation in France has been breaking records, but other European countries are not spared. Direction Italy and Germany to compare the increase in the price of races.
In Italy, the shopping basket is 20 to 30 euros more expensive than before
Italy has been hit by record inflation in recent months. Even if things have improved since the start of the year, Italians are still paying a high price for shopping. “With my two small children, it really exploded, I pay 20 to 30 euros more. Even treat yourself to an ice cream, now it’s too expensive“, testifies Adriana, at the checkout of a supermarket in Rome.
Compared to last year, you have to pay 13% more for everyday products, the prices of which have not been so high for 40 years. Inflation certainly fell back below 10% in February, and the combination of energy price caps and mild winters is currently offering Italians some respite from their gas and electricity bills.
For 2023, consumer associations speak of an increase of more than 2,800 euros for an Italian family with two children just for basic products, food and hygiene. The number of families in difficulty has doubled in one year in Italy, so, to alert, the spokesperson for the ecologists, Angelo Bonelli, insisted on coming with his shopping to the Assembly: “VSa, it’s a zucchini. At the market, it costs 4 euros per kilo. Loaves of oil, eaten by the elderly: 4 euros 10 per kilo. A liter of milk is 2 euros. It’s a terrifying rise, to see it, just go to the supermarket.”
>> How do Italians approach this year 2023?
For pasta, the increase goes up to 30% in Italy. To get by at the end of the month, the Italians are visibly tightening their belts on food: a family with two children should spend 340 euros less on food than last year.
In Germany the average basket is cheaper than in France
In a Berlin supermarket, the price of the 37 items that make up the franceinfo basket (everyday products, food and hygiene) is 95.08 euros; against 100.72 euros in France. This represents 5% less. Several items are less expensive across the Rhine such as olive oil, biscuits or dishwashing liquid. But others are much more so: powdered sugar has increased by 120% compared to France, grated cheese by 58%, toilet paper by 24%.
The basket is cheaper in Germany but food prices have increased more than in France. Inflation is 20% over 1 year against 14.1% in France, still based on the franceinfo basket.
>> Energy crisis: Germany expects inflation of 7% in 2023, slightly higher than in 2022
According to a recent survey, one in six Germans fears that they will no longer be able to cope with the increase in the cost of living, whereas a year ago it was one in ten Germans. “I have to be careful, I have four children, I’m a craftsman and I have to count every penny, whether I’m driving a car, buying food or buying clothes. I don’t go to restaurants. And we don’t go on vacation anymore. This is where we save. By the end of the year, prices will certainly rise again. But salaries and pensions are not increasing“, details Michael, a Berliner. He also lowered the heating at home: no other choice, he says, to reduce energy bills, gas, electricity, whose prices have also soared, with 23% more in the space of 12 months.
Prices are expected to increase another 7% this year. AT For comparison, inflation in France in 2022 was 5.2%. We will have to wait until 2024 to see the rate of inflation decrease and witness the return of growth.
>> Record inflation: what measures are being taken for wages in Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom?