Italy

Wine saw volume sales fall in Italy in 2023. While wine had seen on-trade growth in the previous year as consumers eagerly returned to socialising outside the home once COVID-19 related restrictions were lifted, the category experienced decline in…

Sales of biscuits, snack bars, and fruit snacks in Italy in 2024 are being supported by a particular emphasis on protein/energy bars. This phenomenon can be attributed to several reasons. Firstly, there is a growing awareness of the importance of…

Sugar confectionery is achieving positive sales in both value and volume terms in Italy in 2024. However, performance differs between categories, with boiled sweets and pastilles, gummies, jellies and chews seeing good growth in both value and volume…

Spirits saw volume sales decline in Italy in 2023. Strong price rises and pressure on purchasing power had dire effects on demand for spirits through both on-trade and off-trade channels during the year. Indeed, consumers became more and more…

Sales in snacks in Italy in 2024 are being characterised by growth in terms of value, while volume tends to be a little lower due to lingering inflationary pressures. That said, inflation is notably easing in 2024, thus heralding a gradual return to…

Savoury snacks are seeing a positive performance in Italy in 2024, in both volume and value terms. This is strongly supported by the “snackification” trend, whereby consumers eat fewer, full, sit-down meals and, instead, snack more often during the…

RTDs saw volume sales stagnate in Italy in 2023. Two main factors constrained the performance of RTDs in both the on-trade and off-trade channels during the final year of the review period. Significant price rises deterred consumers from purchasing…

Ice cream remains in a small negative volume slump in Italy in 2024, albeit with sales improved from 2023. Meanwhile, value is better supported by inflated prices. The overall negative performance is being affected by a slump in take-home ice cream,…

Gum in Italy continues to achieve positive value and volume sales in 2024. Notably, gum consumption is strongly related to an out-and-about, sociable lifestyle, whereas such activities were curbed during the era of the pandemic restrictions and…

Cider/perry saw significant volume growth in Italy in 2023. Indeed, cider/perry was the only alcoholic drinks category to see a positive performance in volume terms in the Italian market in the final year of the review period. The small size of the…

Chocolate confectionery in Italy in 2024 is following the general trend of value being supported over volume due to lingering inflationary pressures. However, any volume challenges in subcategories are being balanced by the popularity of seasonal…

Beer saw total volume sales fall in Italy in 2023. The growth dynamics of the pandemic changed for beer over the 2022-2023 period. Following consecutive years of off-trade growth (2020 and 2021), demand for beer in the off-trade declined in 2022.…

Alcoholic drinks saw total volume sales decline in Italy in 2023. Price spikes and pressure on consumer purchasing power had a strongly negative impact on demand for alcoholic drinks during the year. Consumers became more conservative with their…

Sunglasses is set to see slight current value growth in Italy in 2024. After two years of double-digit growth in both value and volume terms, sunglasses sales, since 2023, have returned to their historical sluggish growth pattern represented by…

Sales of spectacles are set to see continued current value growth in Italy in 2024, with growth being supported by the recovery in Italians’ purchasing power. Indeed, the spectacles category is expected to see volume sales grow faster than in the…

Eyewear is expected to record low single-digit growth in current value terms in Italy in 2024. Growth is set to be supported by Italian consumers’ recovery in purchasing power. Indeed, most categories’ volume sales are expected to see growth on the…

Contact lenses is set to see mid-single digit growth in current value terms in Italy in 2024, continuing the trend from the previous year, with the category being the most dynamic within eyewear. Growth in the category will be supported by Italians…

Tobacco in Italy in 2023 continued to perform well in value terms, despite rising costs caused by inflationary pressures, reduced disposable consumer incomes, and various measures taken to curb the practice of smoking overall. In fact, was something…

Smokeless tobacco, e-vapour products and heated tobacco was the winning category in Italy in 2023, seeing good volume and value sales. However, we note the absence of moist snuff, chewing tobacco, and smokeless tobacco, thus, the category consists of…

Sales in cigars, cigarillos and smoking tobacco in Italy were supported by the positive performance of smoking tobacco in 2023. Indeed, smoking tobacco managed to achieve positive volume sales, as well as value sales, due to such products offering a…

Cigarettes in Italy continued to decline in volume terms in 2023, as the number of cigarette smokers diminish. At the same time, the rising tax on cigarettes is pushing up prices, supporting value sales but also acting as a deterrent to cigarette…

Homewares saw stable growth in current value terms in 2023, buoyed by several contributing factors. Italy’s expanding middle class and increasing urbanisation have led to a growing demand for homewares as more people seek to create comfortable and…

Home improvement in Italy experienced slower growth in current value terms in 2023 compared to the previous year. This downward trend was largely influenced by Italy’s popular 'Superbonus 110%' scheme, introduced in 2020, which offers homeowners a…

Italians are passionate about outdoor cooking and grilling and enjoy using barbecues throughout all seasons. Despite seasonal fluctuations, the market peaks in spring, particularly around Easter, with summer close behind due to national holidays and…

Home and garden saw slower growth in current value terms in 2023 compared to the previous two years, with this being driven by a combination of factors. Economic uncertainty and inflation played a significant role, leading to an increase in list…

Gardening in Italy saw a significant decline in sales in 2023 which was in part due to the erratic weather which was linked to the impact of climate change. The country experienced severe droughts followed by heavy rains, creating a challenging…

Sun care saw a slow start to the year in 2023 due to a milder than usual spring and a belated start of the summer. However, the summer season started to pick up from July onwards, with sun care sales performing extremely well in the key month of…

Skin care dynamic growth in current value terms in 2023, registering stronger growth than that seen in the previous year. The category continued to perform well despite the challenging economic environment thanks in part to skin care routines…

Premium beauty and personal care registered double-digit growth in current value terms in 2023, following a similar trend seen in 2022. Growth was driven by the dynamism of premium facial make-up and skin care with these categories benefiting from…

Oral care saw steady growth in current value terms in 2023 driven largely by significant price increases. In terms of unit price growth, toothpaste recorded among the most notable increases in 2023, followed by dental floss, denture care and…

Men’s grooming recorded dynamic growth in current value terms for the third consecutive year in 2023, mainly led by significant price hikes across all product categories. This surge can be attributed to inflationary pressures, which prompted…

Mass beauty and personal care registered strong growth in current value terms in 2023, with this coming on the back of high price increases. With inflation raising production costs most players were pushed to raise their prices. High inflation not…

Hair care experienced robust growth in current value terms in 2023, with this being driven by significant price hikes across all categories. This surge can be attributed to inflationary pressures, which prompted major brands to raise their selling…

Sales of fragrances saw a quick recovery returning to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2022 in both value and volume terms. Fragrances continued to show a similar trend in 2023 with double-digit growth in current value terms as well as steady growth…

Sales of depilatories saw a positive performance in both volume and current value terms in 2023. Demand for these products was sustained by consumers continuing to return to their more active lifestyles, following the end of the pandemic, with 2023…

Deodorants saw dynamic double-digit growth in current value terms in Italy in 2023. While most of the beauty and personal care products sales were primarily boosted by price hikes, deodorants stood out as it achieved positive growth in volume terms…

Colour cosmetics continued to show double-digit growth in current value terms in 2023 in line with the previous year. While face masks were still worn in many situations in 2022, they were discarded by most people in 2023 as all remaining…

Beauty and personal care in Italy saw high single-digit growth in current value terms in 2023, with sales favoured by being a year without major disruptions, with 2022 being affected by various negative events. These included the prohibition of…

Bath and shower saw strong growth in current value terms in 2023 but this was mainly due to significant price increases from most players. Soaring inflation led to a substantial increase in production costs which was subsequently reflected in the…

Baby and child-specific products continued to see current value growth in 2023, following on from the recovery seen in the post-pandemic period, with growth supported by the strong price increases seen across the various categories. With high…

Static consoles were a key driver of value growth in video games in Italy during 2023, as there had been a delay in product deliveries to Italy during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Existing console brands are still perceived as relatively new by…

Consumer demand for traditional toys and games continued to decline in Italy in 2023, as the tough economic climate in Italy and high costs of living forced families to reign in expenditure. Games and puzzles and plush registered the best performance…

Toys and games in Italy proved to be a robust industry in 2023, despite the declining value sales of some traditional toy and game products. With the rate of inflation falling slightly, consumer spending showed some improvement for affordable…

The cat litter category has evolved a lot over the years and continues to do so. Manufacturers and consumers of cat litter are increasingly favouring products with sustainable materials and options which provide greater comfort to cats. As seen in…

Pet care was among the hardest hit industries by inflation and general price increases in Italy, at least in the first half of 2023. However, these price increases were not seen across the board in all distribution channels, with the biggest…

Other pet food registered a slight decline in retail volume terms in 2023 although this was supplemented by an increase in current value terms, with value growth boosted by price increases implemented by companies in response to rising costs. Despite…

Sales of dog food recorded modest growth in retail volume terms in 2023 but this this was still relatively impressive given the economic challenges facing many owners and the impact of significant price rises on the market. The price increases seen…

Sales of cat food recorded moderate volume growth across all categories in 2023. This was accompanied by strong growth in current value terms which was largely the result of elevated inflation and price increases introduced by retailers and companies…

While the 1,500ml bottle is the most popular size in bottled water and 500ml is the most widely used size among the smaller pack types in this category, there has been strong growth recorded by smaller pack sizes in bottled water, such as 250ml or…

Renowned Italian coffee brand Lavazza made a significant contribution towards sustainability with the launch of its first-ever carbon-neutral flexible aluminium capsules for fresh coffee pods compatible with Nespresso Original machines. By combining…