By IANS/AKI,
Rome: Italian families had less money to spend on non-essential items last year as the economic crisis deepened in Europe’s fourth-richest country.
According to government statistics agency, Istat, the average disposable income of Italian families fell 2.8 percent in the final three months of 2009 compared to the same period the previous year.
Spending was down 1.9 percent and purchasing power fell by 0.2 percent as the country experienced its worst recession since World War II.
Istat noted that the drop was the most significant fall in the past decade since figures were collated.
In the fourth quarter of 2009, the household saving rate was 14 percent, compared to 14.7 percent in the same quarter of 2008.
Enrico Farinone, an opposition Italian MP from the centre-left opposition Democratic Party, said the figures illustrated the severe impact of the recession on Italian families.
“After the Istat data on families, does the government have the courage to say our country has weathered the crisis better than others,” said Farinone, vice president of the European Affairs committee.
“In reality the crisis has struck Italy in a very serious way and the government has stood still. The numbers illustrate that.”