School book prices, here are all the moves to save money

Between exercise books, backpacks, diaries, stationery, drawing materials, books and dictionaries, the total outlay for the 2025/2026 school year may thus exceed EUR 1,300 per student. Codacons calculates this. According to initial estimates, backpacks, diaries and pencil cases, as well as stationery (pens, exercise books, markers, pencils, etc.) will register price increases of between +3% and +5% this year compared to last year. A designer backpack can cost over 200 euros, while a pencil case (with pens, pencils, eraser and markers) can cost 60 euros. The price of a diary for the school year 2025/2026 can touch 40 euros. Increases are also expected for books - Codacons warns. In fact, in the last month Istat has recorded average increases of +3.8% on 2024 for school books.

According to the Unione Nazionale Consumatori (National Consumers' Union), which estimated the school-related increases by processing Istat data, school books are expected to rise by 2.8%, which is higher than the programmed inflation rate of 1.8% for primary and secondary school textbooks, but far higher for high schools. This rises to 6.7% over 2023 and 11.9% over 2022, higher than the general inflation rate of 2.9% and 9% respectively. It seems to be better for exercise books and reams of paper, which cost 1.5% more than a year ago, the smallest increase among the monitored products, but this is only a mirage: consumers are still paying the mega price increases of 2022 (+9.8%) and 2023 (+7.5%), counting which they are now shelling out 20.3% more than in 2021. Pens, pencils and highlighters take off by 6.9% on 2024, a record compared to a year ago and also in comparison with 2022 (+16.6%) and 2021 (+24.2%). University housing takes off by 6% on 2024, the second worst yearly performance and the highest rise compared to 2023 with +13.6%.

Codacons renews its denunciation of the phenomenon of expensive books, citing an Antitrust report published at the beginning of August, which reveals the lack of competition (with 80% of the market concentrated in the hands of four publishers) and the phenomenon of new editions adopted by schools (books placed on the market with a few pages or a different image than the previous edition, but at higher prices). Also affecting families' spending, according to the association, is the rejection of the reforms passed over the years to limit the growth of price lists: "the spending ceilings that schools must adhere to," it explains, "are being exceeded due to the lack of controls on teachers' work," while digital books "have turned out to be a flop. Added to this are the limits for large retailers, who can only apply discounts of up to a maximum of 15 per cent on cover prices. The Consumers' Association points out a number of tips for cutting costs, including: not chasing fashions and influencers, which allows you to spend up to 40% less; opting for supermarkets over stationery stores, where you can save up to 30% by buying so-called 'civetta' products, i.e. goods sold below cost to encourage spending; postponing purchases to a later date can also offer savings, while for more technical things it is best to wait for the teachers' instructions to avoid unnecessary purchases. Then there is e-commerce: buying books online can be cheaper than at a traditional bookstore, up to 15% off the cover price, even if they are often in vouchers. Finally, Codacons invites you to compare prices and check the quality of the product, even when faced with promotional offers and fixed-price kits, especially for backpacks.