Christmas is getting more expensive: food and gifts have seen record prices in ten years.

Christmas 2025 is expected to be the most expensive in the last ten years. This is confirmed by a comparison between 2015 and current prices: the holiday bill, including food and gifts, has risen well above average inflation, directly impacting Italian household budgets.

According to data from the Federconsumatori National Observatory, some iconic Christmas products have seen triple-digit price increases.

The products with the most significant price increases

Le lentils, a must-have at New Year's Eve, have gone from around 4,50 euros per kilo to over 10 euros, with an increase of over 140%. Gift cards have more than doubled (+145%), while salmon Packaged goods are up 103%. Even traditional products like pandoro, panettone, and cotechino have nearly doubled in price compared to ten years ago. Gifts aren't doing any better. Items that have become commonplace under the tree—like bicycles, drones, coffee makers, and small appliances—are now up to 80% more expensive than they were in 2015.

The result is that Christmas is increasingly weighing on the wallet, especially for those whose incomes have stagnated or grown little.

The publishing crisis: a book costs less

Paradoxically, the only real exception Books are slightly cheaper than ten years ago. This figure doesn't indicate greater cultural accessibility, but rather the structural difficulties of the publishing market and the decline in consumption. The problem isn't just about prices, but also about how people spend. Nearly one in five Christmas purchases is made using installments, financing, or "buy now, pay later" options, a sign of spending that often exceeds families' immediate means.

Compared to last Christmas, the trend does not change: the food spending has increased by over 5%, and low-cost gifts by around 7%. Energy, transportation, and raw materials continue to push prices higher, while purchasing power remains under pressure. The message is clear: Christmas is becoming increasingly expensive, not by choice, but by necessity. And without a real recovery in wages, for many Italian families, the holidays are becoming an increasingly fragile balance between tradition and sacrifice.