More Than Half of Italians Cut Spending on Restaurants and Delivery, Survey Finds

More than half of Italians surveyed said they had cut spending on restaurants and food delivery in the previous three months, according to a Confesercenti survey carried out with Ipsos and published on Nov. 2, underscoring pressure on household budgets and on consumer spending away from home.

The survey, based on responses from 800 people in Italy between the ages of 18 and 65, found that 52% said they had tried to save money on restaurant meals and delivery during the prior three months. It also found that 53% expected to do so during the final quarter of 2026. The figures point to continued caution among consumers, but they do not measure a direct change in restaurant sales.

That distinction matters because the survey compares self-reported past behavior with future intentions. The 1 percentage point difference between the 52% who said they had already reduced spending and the 53% who said they expected to do so later in the year is not an observed drop in consumption. It is a gap between what respondents said they had done and what they said they planned to do.

The same pattern appeared in bars, though at lower levels. The survey found that 39% of respondents said they had already cut spending at bars in the previous three months, while 44% said they expected to reduce that spending during the final quarter of the year. That is a difference of 5 percentage points between reported behavior and stated intentions.

Confesercenti did not specify in its release when the fieldwork was conducted. That leaves an important gap in the methodology, because it makes it harder to compare the responses with other consumer data collected over known dates or to tie the findings to a specific period of prices, wages, or broader economic conditions. The survey results are limited to what respondents said about their own efforts to save.

The data also do not show how those savings were made. The results cannot distinguish between people going out less often, ordering less food, spending less on each visit, choosing cheaper venues, or shifting from delivery to home cooking. For the same reason, the 52% figure does not mean restaurant revenue in Italy fell by 52%, nor does it indicate how many euros consumers cut from their budgets.

Another limit is the scope of the sample. The survey covers adults from 18 to 65, which means it does not include older Italians. It also reports only the share of respondents who said they were saving in a given category. It does not track actual spending levels, the number of restaurant visits, or the volume of delivery orders.

Confesercenti’s findings nevertheless suggest that eating out has become one of the most exposed parts of household spending when families look for places to trim costs. Restaurants and delivery appear near the top of those adjustments, with bars also affected, though to a lesser extent. The figures show that many households said they had already pulled back and that a slightly larger share expected to continue doing so through the end of the year.

The survey did not offer a comparable year-over-year measure for restaurants, delivery, or bars. Without that, it cannot show whether the pressure on out-of-home spending is stronger or weaker than it was a year earlier. What it does provide is a snapshot of reported restraint in one of the most discretionary areas of consumer spending, based on what respondents said they had done and what they expected to do next.

The findings were later reported by the Italian outlet La Capitale on Nov. 8, but the original figures came from Confesercenti’s Nov. 2 release. In that release, the business association presented the data as evidence of continued pressure on consumption outside the home, while the survey itself pointed most clearly to a widespread effort by households to save on restaurant meals, bars, and food delivery.