The disposable income of Italian families grew in 2025, but the economic picture remains complex: more money in pockets, increasing consumption, less saving and decreasing investments. This is what emerges from the Istat report on national accounts by institutional sector, published on 3 April 2026.
Growing income and increasing purchasing power
In 2025, the disposable income of consumer families increased by 2.4%, equal to 32.4 billion euros. This is slightly lower growth than the +2.9% recorded in 2024, but still higher than the increase in prices. This allowed a 0.9% increase in purchasing power, although slower than the +1.2% of the previous year.
Mainly supporting the growth of primary income (+47 billion, +3.1%) were:
- income from employment: +33.1 billion (+3.8%);
- real estate income: +6 billion (+3.5%);
- income from entrepreneurial activities: +5.5 billion (+1.5%);
- income from financial capital: +2.4 billion (+3.0%).
Final consumption expenditure increased by 2.5% (+31.5 billion compared to 2024). Growth has been faster than that of disposable income. As a result, the propensity to save fell further, falling to 8.2% from 8.3% in 2024, a far cry from the peak of 15.3% reached during the pandemic in 2020.
Italian families therefore allocate a growing share of their income to consumption and less to saving.
Falling investments, fewer home purchases
A sign of weakness concerns household investments, which show various indicators in decline:
- the investment rate fell to 5.9% of disposable income (from 6.3% in 2024);
- gross fixed investments decreased by 3.9%;
- spending on the purchase and extraordinary maintenance of homes amounted to 82.7 billion, down by 3.3 billion compared to the previous year.
In partial compensation, public contributions to investments intended for families rose to 10.8 billion euros (+3.6 billion compared to 2024). However, the financial balance of families improved, reaching 35.9 billion euros (+6.8 billion on an annual basis).
Businesses invest more but earn less
Non-financial companies show an opposite trend compared to families on the investment front. The sector’s added value grew by 2.6% in 2025 (+28.1 billion), accelerating compared to +1.3% in 2024. However, rising costs have reduced profit margins:
- gross operating profit grew by only 0.9%;
- the profit rate fell to 43.3% from 44.1% in 2024;
- income from employment increased by 4.2% (+24.7 billion).
On the investment front, however, companies are accelerating: the investment rate reached 24.9% (from 24.3% in 2024), while gross fixed investments increased by 5.2% (+13.4 billion).
Relations with foreign countries
The overall picture of the Italian economy in relation to foreign countries is improving. Italy’s net position towards the rest of the world is active for 30.8 billion euros in 2025, compared to 23.4 billion in 2024.
This result was supported above all by the greater receipts from abroad for income from work and capital, which more than compensated for the slight reduction in the trade balance. The public administration deficit also improved, reducing to -69.4 billion euros (from -73.8 billion in 2024). However, it remains largely in negative territory.
