Economy of Italy

Economy of Italy
Milan is the economic capital of Italy,[1] and is a global financial centre and a fashion capital of the world.
CurrencyEuro (EUR, €) (Except in Campione d'ItaliaCHF)
Calendar Year
Trade organisations
EU, WTO, G-20, G7, OECD, AIIB
Country group
Statistics
Population58,850,717 (31 December 2022)[4]
GDP
GDP rank
GDP growth
  • Increase 3.9% (2022)[6]
  • Increase 0.9% (2023f)[6]
  • Increase 0.7% (2024f)[7]
GDP per capita
  • Increase $38,925 (nominal; 2024)[5]
  • Increase $56,015 (PPP; 2024)[5]
GDP per capita rank
GDP by sector
4.5% (2023)[5]
Population below poverty line
  • Steady 9.4% (2021)[9]
  • Negative increase 20.1% at risk of poverty (2021)[10]
Negative increase 32.9 medium (2021e)[11]
Labour force
  • Decrease 44.4 million (2021)[13]
  • Increase 61.0% employment rate (April 2023)[14]
Labour force by occupation
Unemployment
  • Positive decrease 7.8% (April 2023)[14]
  • Positive decrease 20.4% youth unemployment (15 to 24 year-olds; April 2023)[14]
  • Positive decrease 1.9 million unemployed (April 2023)[14]
Average gross salary
€2,821 / $2,966.35 monthly[15] (2022)
€2,009 / $2,112.51 monthly[16][17] (2022)
Main industries
External
ExportsIncrease $625 billion (2021)[8]
Export goods
Engineering products, textiles and clothing, production machinery, motor vehicles, transport equipment, chemicals; foodstuffs, beverages, and tobacco; minerals, nonferrous metals
Main export partners
ImportsDecrease $570 billion (2021)[8]
Import goods
Engineering products, chemicals, transport equipment, energy products, minerals and nonferrous metals, textiles and clothing; food, beverages, tobacco
Main import partners
FDI stock
  • Increase $552.1 billion (31 December 2017 est.)[8]
  • Increase Abroad: $671.8 billion (31 December 2017 est.)[8]
Increase $59.52 billion (2019 est.)[8]
$3.024 trillion (31 December 2020)[19]
Public finances
  • Positive decrease 137% of GDP (2023)[20]
  • Negative increase €2.410 trillion (2019)[21]
  • €29.3 billion deficit (2019)[21]
  • −1.6% of GDP (2019)[21]
Revenues47.1% of GDP (2019)[21]
Expenses48.7% of GDP (2019)[21]
Economic aid
Increase $211.3 billion (November 2022 est.)[8]

All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars.

The economy of Italy is a highly developed social market economy.[28] It is the third-largest national economy in the European Union, the second-largest manufacturing industry in Europe (7th-largest in the world),[29] the 8th-largest economy in the world by nominal GDP, and the 12th-largest by GDP (PPP). Italy is a founding member of the European Union, the Eurozone, the OECD, the G7 and the G20;[30] it is the eighth-largest exporter in the world, with $611 billion exported in 2021. Its closest trade ties are with the other countries of the European Union, with whom it conducts about 59% of its total trade. The largest trading partners, in order of market share in exports, are Germany (12.5%), France (10.3%), the United States (9%), Spain (5.2%), the United Kingdom (5.2%) and Switzerland (4.6%).[31]

In the post-World War II period, Italy saw a transformation from an agricultural-based economy which had been severely affected by the consequences of the World Wars, into one of the world's most advanced nations,[32] and a leading country in world trade and exports. According to the Human Development Index, the country enjoys a very high standard of living. According to The Economist, Italy has the world's 8th highest quality of life.[33] Italy owns the world's third-largest gold reserve,[34] and is the third-largest net contributor to the budget of the European Union. Furthermore, the advanced country private wealth is one of the largest in the world.[35] In terms of private wealth, Italy ranks second, after Hong Kong, in private wealth to GDP ratio.

Italy is the world's seventh-largest manufacturing country,[36] characterised by a smaller number of global multinational corporations than other economies of comparable size and many dynamic small and medium-sized enterprises, notoriously clustered in several industrial districts, which are the backbone of the Italian industry. Italy is a large manufacturer[37] and exporter[38] of a significant variety of products. Its products include machinery, vehicles, pharmaceuticals, furniture, food and clothing.[39] Italy has a significant trade surplus. The country is also well known for its influential and innovative business economic sector, an industrious and competitive agricultural sector (Italy is the world's largest wine producer),[40] and manufacturers of creatively designed, high-quality products: including automobiles, ships, home appliances, and designer clothing. Italy is the largest hub for luxury goods in Europe and the third luxury hub globally.[41][42] Italy has a strong cooperative sector, with the largest share of the population (4.5%) employed by a cooperative in the EU.[43]

Despite these important achievements, the country's economy today suffers from structural and non-structural problems. Annual growth rates have often been below the EU average. Italy was hit particularly hard by the late-2000s recession. Massive government spending from the 1980s onwards has produced a severe rise in public debt. In addition, Italian living standards have a considerable North–South divide: the average GDP per capita in Northern Italy significantly exceeds the EU average, while some regions and provinces in Southern Italy are significantly below the average. In Central Italy, GDP per capita is instead average.[44][45] In recent years, Italy's GDP per capita growth slowly caught-up with the Eurozone average,[46] while its employment rate still lags behind. However, economists dispute the official figures because of the large number of informal jobs (estimated to be between 10% and 20% of the labour force) that lift the inactivity or unemployment rates.[47] The shadow economy is highly represented in Southern Italy, while it becomes less intense as one moves north. In real economic conditions, Southern Italy almost matches Central Italy's level.[48]

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  2. ^ "World Economic Outlook Database, April 2019". IMF.org. International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  3. ^ "World Bank Country and Lending Groups". datahelpdesk.worldbank.org. World Bank. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  4. ^ "Istat: nascite 2022 ancora in calo (-1,9%)". ilsole24ore.com. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d e "Report for Selected Countries and Subjects: October 2023". IMF. International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  6. ^ a b "Economic forecast for Italy".
  7. ^ "Report for Selected Countries and Subjects – Italy". International Monetary Fund. April 2018.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h "CIA World Factbook". CIA.gov. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  9. ^ "Poverty in Italy". ISTAT. 5 September 2022.
  10. ^ "At-risk-of-poverty rate". ec.europa.eu. Eurostat. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  11. ^ "Gini coefficient of equivalised disposable income - EU-SILC survey". ec.europa.eu. Eurostat. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  12. ^ a b "Specific Country Data | Human Development Reports". hdr.undp.org. HDRO (Human Development Report Office) United Nations Development Programme. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  13. ^ "Population, aged 15-74 - EU labour force survey". ec.europa.eu. Eurostat. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  14. ^ a b c d "EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT (PROVISIONAL ESTIMATES) - APRIL 2023". istat.it. Italian National Institute of Statistics. June 2023. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  15. ^ "Home". www.oecd-ilibrary.org.
  16. ^ "Taxing Wages 2023: Indexation of Labour Taxation and Benefits in OECD Countries | READ online".
  17. ^ [1]
  18. ^ a b "Interscambio commerciale italiano con il resto del mondo infoMercatiEsteri - www.infomercatiesteri.it - infoMercatiEsteri - www.infomercatiesteri.it". www.infomercatiesteri.it.
  19. ^ "Euromoney Institutional Investor Company". Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  20. ^ "Italy confirms 2023 debt guidance despite ballooning state budget deficit". reuters.com. reuters.com. 26 June 2023. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  21. ^ a b c d e "Euro area and EU27 government deficit both at 0.6% of GDP" (PDF). ec.europa.eu/eurostat. Eurostat. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  22. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 December 2017. Retrieved 25 December 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  23. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 April 2017. Retrieved 25 December 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  24. ^ "Sovereigns Rating List". Standard & Poor's. Retrieved 26 May 2011.
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  27. ^ "Scope affirms Italy's BBB+/Stable long-term credit ratings". Scope Ratings. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  28. ^ Hall, Peter A.; Soskice, David (2001). Varieties of Capitalism: The Institutional Foundations of Comparative Advantage. Oxford University Press. p. 131. ISBN 978-0-191-64770-3.
  29. ^ "Manufacturing by Country 2024".
  30. ^ "Report for Selected Countries and Subjects". www.imf.org.
  31. ^ "CIA World Factbook: Italy". CIA. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  32. ^ "Select Country or Country Groups". www.imf.org.
  33. ^ "The Economist Intelligence Unit's quality-of-life index" (PDF). The Economist. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  34. ^ Stringa, Giovanni (5 January 2013). "Italia terza al mondo per riserve d'oro, per ogni cittadino dote di 1.650 euro". Corriere della Sera. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
  35. ^ "Quel bilancio Ue poco equilibrato". Il Sole 24 Ore. 1 February 2013. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  36. ^ "Manufacturing, value added (current US$) Archived 10 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine". accessed on 17 May 2017.
  37. ^ "Manufacturing statistics". Eurostat. November 2015. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  38. ^ Workman, Daniel (27 December 2018). "Italy's Top 10 Exports". World's Top Exports.
  39. ^ Workman, Daniel (2 March 2019). "Top Industrial Robots Exporters". World's Top Exports.
  40. ^ Woodard, Richard (19 March 2013). "Italian wine now 22% of global market". Decanter. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  41. ^ Gustafson, Krystina (31 December 2015). "The world's biggest luxury markets in 2015". www.cnbc.com.
  42. ^ "Italy remains the third market for luxury goods". Archived from the original on 10 March 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  43. ^ "The Power of Cooperation – Cooperatives Europe key statistics 2015" (PDF). Cooperatives Europe. April 2016. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  44. ^ "REGIONAL ACCOUNTS YEARS 2017-2019" (PDF). ISTAT. 22 December 2020.
  45. ^ "Anno 2017 CONTI ECONOMICI TERRITORIALI" (PDF) (in Italian). ISTAT. 13 December 2018.
  46. ^ "GDP per capita growth (annual %) | Data". data.worldbank.org.
  47. ^ "In Italia 3,7 milioni di lavoratori in nero". LaStampa.it. 14 October 2016.
  48. ^ "Il Sud d'Italia e i settori che evadono di più". Il Sole 24 Ore (in Italian). 29 August 2019.