Washing Machines

The diffusion of washing machines in Italian families is really high, just lower than that of refrigerators, and is equal to 24,914,000 units, according to the most recent available statistical data from ISTAT (2019), corresponding to 97.6%. Actually, the market of washing machines has reached the saturation level, with a penetration rate of nearly 100% in all countries of the European Union.

The average duration of a washing machine before its disposal is between 12 and 14 years. Therefore, the market is characterized by a high rate of replacement of old appliances, and not by an increase of the existing stock.

On average, in 2015-2016 in Italy, 1.9 millions of washing machines have been purchased yearly. From current data, it comes out that 2,200,000 machines have been sold in 2020. Indeed, in the last year almost 2,200,000 washing machines have been manufactured in Italy. The import-export-balance has no influence, since there is an equal amount of units (about 2,000,000 appliances) imported and exported.

Again from ISTAT, it results that washing represents the first cost item regarding appliances in Italian families, equal to about 3.3 Euros per month per family, if compared with the cold appliances sector, for which the expense amounts to 2 Euros per month and the cooking sector with a monthly expense of about 1 Euro. This value remained stable in the years 2017, 2018, and 2019. Washing machines are in fact the most frequently used appliances and those with the largest market.