ECONOMICS

 

Main Crops: fruits, vegetables, grapes, potatoes, sugar beets, soybeans, grain, olives; beef, dairy products; fish

Natural Resources: mercury, potash, marble, sulfur, dwindling natural gas and crude oil reserves, fish, coal.

Major Industries: tourism, machinery, iron and steel, chemicals, food processing, textiles, motor vehicles, clothing, footwear, ceramics

Italy’s economy comprises a developed industrial north, dominated by private companies, and a less-developed, highly subsidized, agricultural south, with a legacy of unemployment and underdevelopment. The Italian economy is driven in large part by the manufacture of high-quality consumer goods produced by small and medium-sized enterprises, many of them family-owned. Italy also has a sizable underground economy, which by some estimates accounts for as much as 17% of GDP. These activities are most common within the agriculture, construction, and service sectors.

Italy is the third-largest economy in the euro zone, but its exceptionally high public debt and structural impediments to growth have rendered it vulnerable to scrutiny by financial markets. Public debt has increased steadily since 2007, reaching 131% of GDP in 2017. Investor concerns about Italy and the broader euro-zone crisis eased in 2013, bringing down Italy's borrowing costs on sovereign government debt from euro-era records. The government still faces pressure from investors and European partners to sustain its efforts to address Italy's longstanding structural economic problems, including labor market inefficiencies, a sluggish judicial system, and a weak banking sector. Italy’s economy returned to modest growth in late 2014 for the first time since 2011. In 2015-16, Italy’s economy grew at about 1% each year, and in 2017 growth accelerated to 1.5% of GDP. In 2017, overall unemployment was 11.4%, but youth unemployment remained high at 37.1%. GDP growth is projected to slow slightly in 2018.

 

 

 

	1990	2000	2010	2020
GNI, Atlas method (current US$) (billions)	1,058.56	1,247.64	2,250.11	1,923.56
GNI per capita, Atlas method (current US$)	18,660	21,910	37,960	32,360
GNI, PPP (current international $) (billions)	1,043.61	1,535.68	2,079.69	2,521.67
GNI per capita, PPP (current international $)	18,400	26,970	35,080	42,420
GDP (current US$) (billions)	1,181.22	1,146.68	2,136.10	1,888.71
GDP growth (annual %)	2	3.8	1.7	-8.9
Inflation, GDP deflator (annual %)	8.9	1.8	0.4	1.2
Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (% of GDP)	3	3	2	2
Industry (including construction), value added (% of GDP)	28	24	22	22
Exports of goods and services (% of GDP)	18	26	25	29
Imports of goods and services (% of GDP)	18	25	27	26
Gross capital formation (% of GDP)	23	21	21	18
Revenue, excluding grants (% of GDP)	35.4	37.1	38.7	40.1
Net lending (+) / net borrowing (-) (% of GDP)	-8.6	-2.2	-3.8	-1.6
States and markets
Time required to start a business (days)	..	23	13	11
Domestic credit provided by financial sector (% of GDP)	..	..	..	..
Tax revenue (% of GDP)	24.2	23.8	23.7	24.6
Military expenditure (% of GDP)	1.9	1.7	1.5	1.6
Mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people)	0.5	74.5	157.9	128.3
Individuals using the Internet (% of population)	0	23.1	53.7	70.5
High-technology exports (% of manufactured exports)	..	..	8	9
Statistical Capacity Score (Overall Average) (scale 0 - 100)	..	..	..	..
Global links
Merchandise trade (% of GDP)	30	42	44	49
Net barter terms of trade index (2000 = 100)	..	100	97	108
External debt stocks, total (DOD, current US$) (millions)	..	..	..	..
Total debt service (% of exports of goods, services and primary income)	..	..	..	..
Net migration (thousands)	153	1,664	1,637	745
Personal remittances, received (current US$) (millions)	5,075	1,790	7,975	9,711
Foreign direct investment, net inflows (BoP, current US$) (millions)	6,441	13,173	9,931	-22,091
Net official development assistance received (current US$) (millions)	..	..	..	..