Back to school: Which of Europe's 'Big Five' countries pays the most for school supplies?

Italy and Spain pay the highest price for basic school equipment despite having lower wages than France, Germany and the UK, a Euronews analysis of Europe's five largest economies found.

It follows research on 20 essential school items — such as pencils, pens, erasers, highlighters, markers, pencil cases, notebooks, diaries, drawing pads, scissors, etc — sold across supermarket chains and school shops within the same price range.

The heaviest burden is on Italian families, who need to save around 10.80%, or €202.71, of their monthly income to buy just the bare minimum, textbooks excluded.

Italy's national consumer association Federconsumatori denounced that the price for school essentials jumped by 6.6% from 2023.

The most expensive items are backpacks, pencil cases and diaries.

This is how the top five economies ranked in basic school supplies purchases — textbooks, meals, school trips and sports equipment excluded:

If Spain's rising costs are partially justified by inflation — the fourth highest in the EU in June — the same can’t be said for Italy, which had the second lowest one in the block (0.9%).

Although textbook prices vary from school to school, they add a substantial burden: €591,44 on average in Italy and €491.90 in Spain, the highest ever, according to price comparison website Idealo, with a €42.67 increase on last year.

The picture is getting increasingly worrying in Germany as well, where the price of school itemsrose between 5 and 13% from 2022 to 2023, according to the National Statistics Office.

In the UK, a basic school kit seems generally more affordable.

However, unlike in other countries, uniforms are mandatory in all British schools, bringing in an additional cost of about £422 (€500), according to a Hodge