Bonus home appliances, +7% sales since November 2025
The aggregate value rises by EUR 153 million. Producers' association Applia calls for refinancing of the measure as well as more protection for the sector
Appliance bonus effect: from November 2025 to April 2026, compared to the same period in the previous 12 months, 194,600 more units were sold (+8.8%), for an aggregate value of sales that grew by EUR 152.8 million (+6.9%). Appliances most replaced: washing machines (74,026), ovens (49,213), dishwashers (38,196), refrigerators (26,699) and electric hobs (25,356). These are the data collected by Applia Italia, the Confindustria association representing manufacturers of household appliances, to understand the impact of the incentive.
It starts with the citizens' response: since November, more than 1.1 million applications for vouchers have been submitted for the bonus; 250,000 were then used (80 per cent at physical points of sale), for a countervalue of more than EUR 35 million (the total endowment was EUR 50 million). Approximately 60% of the vouchers went to families with an Isee of less than EUR 25,000. The impact on the environment calculated by Applia: the replacement of old, less energy-efficient appliances generated an estimated saving of 57.65 GWh per year, while the obligation to scrap them at the same time as the new purchase allowed over 11,400 tonnes of WEEE to be collected and sent for recovery, contributing to an increase in the quantities in the official treatment circuits.
Lastly, the industrial impact of the measure should be noted, at a complicated time for the household appliance sector in Italia, as the Electrolux crisis also testifies. The bonus only provided for the eligibility of products manufactured in Europe, thus directing demand towards local production chains. Of the 7,835 products eligible for the bonus from the EU, over 52% were produced in Italia.
"Initial evidence indicates that about one third of the incentivised purchases concerned products manufactured in our country," emphasises Marco Imparato, general manager of Applia Italia. "We consider this bonus," he continues, "a successful pilot project. Despite the limited period - with the possibility of applying for vouchers between 18 November and 31 December 2025, and with the last ones spent by March - it has brought results beyond expectations. The measure was born with environmental aims, to reduce energy consumption and improve WEEE collection. Then the industrial policy dynamic was added: the requirement to produce in the EU proved to be a support to production that intercepted a latent demand for technological change in the household appliance park, helping to grow the market after difficult years in which the share of EU origin lost 10% in favour of Chinese production".
Hence the association's requests: 'We ask that the measure be refinanced, using the funds already allocated, and also extended to the European level. Italia is one of the three big producer countries with Germany and Poland. We have a turnover of 20 billion, 80 in Europe, with an important impact on employment. The household appliance sector must be considered strategic, as Minister Urso reiterated at the Competitiveness Council in Brussels last Thursday, and needs defence and support for production. It must be included among the sectors safeguarded by the Industrial Accelerator Act. And also protected by the Cbam: we ask that our products be included in its perimeter, so that those who import them from outside the EU have to pay the cost of CO2 as is the case for European production. The EU Parliament will vote on this in September,' Imparato concludes.
