An analysis by ‘Euronews’ has revealed that lower-wage countries, such as Italy and Spain, pay more on average for basic school supplies than richer European economies.
Italy and Spain pay the highest price for basic school supplies despite having lower wages than France, Germany and the United Kingdom, according to a Euronews analysis of Europe’s five largest economies.
This is a study on 20 essential school supplies that are sold in supermarket chains and stores within the same price range, such as pencils, pens, erasers, fluorescent markers, markers, pencil cases, notebooks, diaries, drawing pads or scissors.
The economic burden heaviest falls on the italian familieswho need to save around 10.80%, or 202.71 euros, of their monthly income to buy the minimum and essential material, excluding textbooks. The Italian national consumer association Federconsumatori reported that the price of basic school supplies has increased by 6.6% since 2023. more expensive items They are backpacks, pencil cases and agendas.
Who pays more?
This is how the top five economies are classified in terms of shopping for basic school suppliesexcluding textbooks, meals, school trips and sports equipment:
- Italia: 10.80% of the average monthly salary after taxes (202.71 euros)
- Spain: 9,24% (190,32 euros)
- Germany: 7,10% (185,78 euros)
- United Kingdom: 5.65% (162.68 pounds/193.49 euros)
- France: 4,84% (140,34 euros)
If the increase in costs in Spain is partly justified by the inflation (the fourth highest in the EU in June), the same cannot be said of Italy, which had the second lower of the block (0.9%).
Although the prices of textbooks vary from one center to another, they represent a considerable financial burden: 591.44 euros on average in Italy and 491.90 euros in Spain, the highest number in historyaccording to the price comparison website ‘Idealo’, with an increase of 42.67 euros compared to last year.
Costs skyrocket in Germany and the United Kingdom, and France comes out better
The panorama is increasingly worrying also in Germanywhere the price of school suppliesincreased between 5% and 13% from 2022 to 2023, according to the National Statistics Office.
In it United Kingdombasic school supplies generally seem more affordable. However, unlike other countries, uniforms are mandatory in all British schools, which represents an additional cost of about 422 pounds (500 euros), according to an analysis by ‘Hodge Bank’ collected by ‘Euronews’.
France appears to have the best offering among Europe’s big five, with essential school supplies accounting for less than 5% of an average monthly salary. Additionally, the country’s Confédération Syndicale des Familles (CSF), a national confederation of family associations, reported a descent overall 6.8% in the school expense of French households in 2024.
However, the French Ministry of Education urged schools to limit their requests. “Schools and institutions should limit themselves to making lists of reasonable supplies,” said an announcement published in August. “Reduce financial burden of families at the beginning of each school year should be the absolute priority.
