ITALY'S worst recession since World War II has prompted Italians to spend a staggering £5 billion ($A9 billion) annually on financial advice, not from banks and brokers but from fortune tellers and astrologers.
Superstition is widespread in Italy. Many people use centuries-old hand gestures to ward off evil and believe that plaster statues of Jesus and Mary can weep blood.
Amid rising unemployment and general gloom over the state of the economy, tarot card readers and pavement fortune tellers are doing a roaring trade.
About 30,000 Italians are paying between €20 ($A31.50) and €600 a day looking for advice to help them out of their financial woes, according to a report by the European Consumers Association.
''Italians are very susceptible to trying their luck on anything esoteric and they're extremely superstitious,'' said Carlo Climati, who wrote a book on superstitious beliefs.
Southern Italy has a reputation as the most superstitious part of the country but it is the north and centre where most money is spent, reflecting the spread of the nation's wealth.
The inhabitants of Lombardy, the region which includes Italy's financial capital Milan, spend the most on fortune tellers and card readers, splashing out €90 million a year. Next comes Lazio, the region which encompasses Rome.
Women account for about 53 per cent of those weighing financial decisions on a roll of the dice or the turn of a tarot card. Fewer than 20 per cent have a university education.
The report was produced with research from Telefono Antiplagio, an Italian voluntary service that helps the victims of con artists.
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