Economy of Italy Currency Euro (EUR, €) (Except in Campione d'Italia – CHF )Calendar Year Trade organisations
EU , WTO , G-20 , G7 , OECD , AIIB Country group
Population 58,850,717 (31 December 2022)[4] GDP GDP rank GDP growth
3.9% (2022)[6]
0.9% (2023f) [6]
0.7% (2024f) [7]
GDP per capita
$39,580 (nominal; 2024)[5]
$56,905 (PPP; 2024)[5]
GDP per capita rank
GDP by sector
4.5% (2023)[5]
9.4% (2021)[9]
20.1% at risk of poverty (2021)[10]
32.9 medium (2021e)[11] Labour force
44.4 million (2021)[13]
61.0% employment rate (April 2023)[14]
Labour force by occupation
Unemployment
7.8% (April 2023)[14]
20.4% youth unemployment (15 to 24 year-olds; April 2023)[14]
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
Exports $626 billion (2023)[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
Imports $591 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
$552.1 billion (31 December 2017 est.)[8]
Abroad: $671.8 billion (31 December 2017 est.)[8]
$59.52 billion (2019 est.)[8] $3.024 trillion (31 December 2020)[19]
137% of GDP (2023)[20]
€2.410 trillion (2019)[21]
€29.3 billion deficit (2019)[21]
−1.6% of GDP (2019)[21]
Revenues 47.1% of GDP (2019)[21] Expenses 48.7% of GDP (2019)[21] Economic aid $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 9th-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 . Among OECD members, Italy has a highly efficient and strong social security system , which comprises roughly 24.4% of GDP .[36] [37] [38]
Italy is the world's seventh-largest manufacturing country ,[39] 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[40] and exporter[41] of a significant variety of products. Its products include machinery , vehicles , pharmaceuticals , furniture, food and clothing.[42] 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),[43] 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.[44] [45] Italy has a strong cooperative sector, with the largest share of the population (4.5%) employed by a cooperative in the EU.[46]
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.[47] [48] In recent years, Italy's GDP per capita growth slowly caught-up with the Eurozone average,[49] 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 .[50] 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.[51]
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^ a b "Human Development Report 2023/2024" (PDF) . United Nations Development Programme . 13 March 2024. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 March 2024. Retrieved 26 April 2024 .
^ "Population, aged 15-74 - EU labour force survey" . ec.europa.eu . Eurostat. Retrieved 5 September 2022 .
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^ a b "Interscambio commerciale italiano con il resto del mondo infoMercatiEsteri - www.infomercatiesteri.it - infoMercatiEsteri - www.infomercatiesteri.it" . www.infomercatiesteri.it .
^ "Euromoney Institutional Investor Company" . Retrieved 30 September 2017 .
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^ 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 .
^ "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 )
^ "Archived copy" (PDF) . Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 April 2017. Retrieved 25 December 2017 .{{cite web }}
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^ "Sovereigns Rating List" . Standard & Poor's . Retrieved 26 May 2011 .
^ Bufacchi, Isabella (16 October 2014). "Moody's confirms stable outlook on Italy's "Baa2" sovereign rating" . Il Sole 24 Ore . Archived from the original on 6 February 2015. Retrieved 8 February 2015 .
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^ 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 .
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^ 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 .
^ "Quel bilancio Ue poco equilibrato" . Il Sole 24 Ore . 1 February 2013. Retrieved 8 February 2015 .
^ Kenworthy, Lane (1999). "Do Social-Welfare Policies Reduce Poverty? A Cross-National Assessment" (PDF) . Social Forces . 77 (3): 1119–1139. doi :10.2307/3005973 . JSTOR 3005973 . Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 August 2013.
^ Moller, Stephanie; Huber, Evelyne; Stephens, John D.; Bradley, David; Nielsen, François (2003). "Determinants of Relative Poverty in Advanced Capitalist Democracies". American Sociological Review . 68 (1): 22–51. doi :10.2307/3088901 . JSTOR 3088901 .
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^ Workman, Daniel (27 December 2018). "Italy's Top 10 Exports" . World's Top Exports .
^ Workman, Daniel (2 March 2019). "Top Industrial Robots Exporters" . World's Top Exports .
^ Woodard, Richard (19 March 2013). "Italian wine now 22% of global market" . Decanter . Retrieved 8 February 2015 .
^ Gustafson, Krystina (31 December 2015). "The world's biggest luxury markets in 2015" . www.cnbc.com .
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