Economy of Italy#Southern question

{{Main|Economic history of Italy|Economic history of pre-unitarian Italy}}

File:Motore a combustione interna Barsanti - Matteucci - Museo scienza tecnologia Milano 08149 2012.jpg, the first proper internal combustion engine]]

The Italian Renaissance was remarkable in economic development. Venice and Genoa were the trade pioneers, first as maritime republics and then as regional states, followed by Milan, Florence, and the rest of northern Italy. Reasons for their early development are for example the relative military safety of Venetian lagoons, the high population density and the institutional structure which inspired entrepreneurs.{{cite book|author=Baten, Jörg |title=A History of the Global Economy. From 1500 to the Present.|date=2016|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=44|isbn=9781107507180}} The Republic of Venice was the first real international financial center, which slowly emerged from the 9th century to its peak in the 15th century.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yor4DAAAQBAJ|title=Finance Masters: A Brief History of International Financial Centers in the Last Millennium|last=Coispeau|first=Olivier|date=2016-08-10|publisher=World Scientific|isbn=9789813108844|language=en|access-date=14 December 2022|archive-date=20 February 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240220065210/https://books.google.com/books?id=Yor4DAAAQBAJ|url-status=live}} Tradeable bonds as a commonly used type of security, were invented by the Italian city-states (such as Venice and Genoa) of the late medieval and early Renaissance periods.

After 1600 Italy experienced an economic catastrophe. In 1600 Northern and Central Italy comprised one of the most advanced industrial areas of Europe. There was an exceptionally high standard of living.{{Cite journal |last1=Rota |first1=Mauro |last2=Weisdorf |first2=Jacob |date=December 2020 |title=Italy and the Little Divergence in Wages and Prices: New Data, New Results |journal=The Journal of Economic History |language=en |volume=80 |issue=4 |pages=931–960 |doi=10.1017/S0022050720000467 |s2cid=219359647 |issn=0022-0507|doi-access=free }} By 1870 Italy was an economically backward and depressed area; its industrial structure had almost collapsed, its population was too high for its resources, its economy had become primarily agricultural. Wars, political fractionalization, limited fiscal capacity and the shift of world trade to north-western Europe and the Americas were key factors.Carlo M. Cipolla, "The Decline of Italy: The Case of a Fully Matured Economy." abFZxxxx Economic History Review 5#2 1952, pp. 178–187. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2591055 online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220920180823/https://www.jstor.org/stable/2591055 |date=20 September 2022 }}{{cite book|author=Baten, Jörg |title=A History of the Global Economy. From 1500 to the Present.|date=2016|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=45|isbn=9781107507180}}

The economic history of Italy after 1861 can be divided in three main phases:{{cite book|editor-last1=Toniolo|editor-first1=Gianni|title=The Oxford handbook of the Italian economy since unification|date=2013|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York, NY|isbn=9780199936694}} an initial period of struggle after the unification of the country, characterised by high emigration and stagnant growth; a central period of robust catch-up from the 1890s to the 1980s, interrupted by the Great Depression of the 1930s and the two world wars; and a final period of sluggish growth that has been exacerbated by a double-dip recession following the 2008 global financial crush, and from which the country is slowly reemerging only in recent years.

File:Terni - le Acciaierie 1912.jpg steel mills in 1912]]

Prior to unification, the economy of the many Italian statelets was overwhelmingly agrarian; however, the agricultural surplus produced what historians call a "pre-industrial" transformation in North-western Italy starting from the 1820s,{{cite book|last1=Riall|first1=Lucy|title=The Italian risorgimento : state, society, and national unification|url=https://archive.org/details/italianrisorgime00rial|url-access=limited|date=1999|publisher=Routledge|location=London [u.a.]|isbn=978-0415057752|page=[https://archive.org/details/italianrisorgime00rial/page/n71 53]|edition=Repr.}} that led to a diffuse, if mostly artisanal, concentration of manufacturing activities, especially in Piedmont-Sardinia under the liberal rule of the Count of Cavour.{{cite book|last1=Killinger|first1=Charles L.|title=The history of Italy|date=2002|publisher=Greenwood Press|location=Westport, Conn. [u.a.]|isbn=978-0313314834|page=[https://archive.org/details/historyofitaly00kill/page/112 112]|edition=[Online-Ausg.]|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofitaly00kill/page/112}}

File:Alessandro Cruto Museo Scienza e Tecnologia Milano.tif, creator of the first practical long-lasting incandescent light bulb{{Cite web|url=https://ilglobo.com.au/news/33135/alessandro-crutos-incandescent-light-bulb/|title=Alessandro Cruto's incandescent light bulb — Italianmedia|website=ilglobo.com.au|access-date=2019-12-16}}|224x224px]]

After the birth of the unified Kingdom of Italy in 1861, there was a deep consciousness in the ruling class of the new country's backwardness, given that the per capita GDP expressed in PPS terms was roughly half of that of Britain and about 25% less than that of France and Germany. During the 1860s and 1870s, the manufacturing activity was backward and small-scale, while the oversized agrarian sector was the backbone of the national economy. The country lacked large coal and iron deposits{{cite book|last1=Hildebrand|first1=George Herbert|title=Growth and Structure in the Economy of Modern Italy|url=https://archive.org/details/growthstructurei0000hild|url-access=registration|date=1965|publisher=Harvard University Press|location=Cambridge, Massachusetts|pages=[https://archive.org/details/growthstructurei0000hild/page/307 307–309]}} and the population was largely illiterate. In the 1880s, a severe farm crisis led to the introduction of more modern farming techniques in the Po valley,{{cite book|last1=Zamagni|first1=Vera|title=The economic history of Italy, 1860–1990: from the periphery to the centre|date=1993|publisher=Clarendon Press|location=[New York]|isbn=978-0198287735|page=64|edition=Repr.}} while from 1878 to 1887 protectionist policies were introduced with the aim to establish a heavy industry base.{{cite book|last1=Kemp|first1=Tom|title=Industrialization in nineteenth-century Europe|date=1985|publisher=Longman|location=London|isbn=978-0582493841|edition=2nd|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/industrializatio0000kemp}} Some large steel and iron works soon clustered around areas of high hydropower potential, notably the Alpine foothills and Umbria in central Italy, while Turin and Milan led a textile, chemical, engineering and banking boom and Genoa captured civil and military shipbuilding.{{cite web |url=https://www.bancaditalia.it/pubblicazioni/quaderni-storia/2010-0004/en_Qua_Storia_eco_n4.pdf?language_id=1 |title=Through the Magnifying Glass: Provincial Aspects of Industrial Growth in Post-Unification Italy |last1=Ciccarelli |first1=Carlo |last2=Fenoaltea |first2=Stefano |date=July 2010 |publisher=Banca d'Italia |page=4 |format=PDF |access-date=9 February 2015 |archive-date=9 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150209031459/https://www.bancaditalia.it/pubblicazioni/quaderni-storia/2010-0004/en_Qua_Storia_eco_n4.pdf?language_id=1 |url-status=live }}

However, the diffusion of industrialisation that characterised the northwestern area of the country largely excluded Venetia and, especially, the South. The resulting Italian diaspora concerned up to 26 million Italians, the most part in the years between 1880 and 1914; by many scholars, it is considered the biggest mass migration of contemporary times.{{cite book |last1=Cohen |first1=Robin |year=1995 |title=The Cambridge Survey of World Migration |url=https://archive.org/details/cambridgesurveyo00robi |url-access=registration |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/cambridgesurveyo00robi/page/114 114] |isbn=978-0-521-44405-7 |access-date=8 February 2015}} During the Great War, the still frail Italian state successfully fought a modern war, being able of arming and training some 5 million recruits.{{cite book |last1=Clark |first1=Martin |year=1984 |title=Modern Italy, 1871–1982 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aXpoAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA186 |location=New York City |publisher=Longman |page=186 |isbn=978-0-582-48361-3 |access-date=8 February 2015}} But this result came at a terrible cost: by the end of the war, Italy had lost 700,000 soldiers and had a ballooning sovereign debt amounting to billions of lira.

{{Main|Economy of Italy under fascism}}

File:Mussolini visiting Fiat, 1932.jpg giving a speech at the Fiat Lingotto factory in Turin, 1932]]

Italy emerged from World War I in a poor and weakened condition. The National Fascist Party of Benito Mussolini came to power in 1922, at the end of a period of social unrest. However, once Mussolini acquired a firmer hold of power, laissez-faire and free trade were progressively abandoned in favour of government intervention and protectionism.{{cite book |last=Knight |first=Patricia |year=2003 |title=Mussolini and Fascism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LrPb77YGb9gC&pg=PA64 |location=New York City |publisher=Routledge |pages=64–65 |isbn=978-0-415-27921-5 |access-date=8 February 2015}}

In 1929, Italy was hit hard by the Great Depression.{{cite book |last=Welk |first=William G.|year=1938 |title=Fascist Economy Policy: An Analysis of Italy's Economic Experiment |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hqcrAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA166 |location=Cambridge |publisher=Harvard University Press |page=166 |access-date=8 February 2015}} In order to deal with the crisis, the Fascist government nationalized the holdings of large banks which had accrued significant industrial securities, establishing the Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale.{{cite book |last=Morgan |first=Philip |year=2003 |title=Italian Fascism, 1915–1945 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D9gcBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA160 |location=Basingstoke |publisher=Macmillan Publishers |page=160 |isbn=978-0-333-94998-6 |access-date=8 February 2015 }}{{Dead link|date=February 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} A number of mixed entities were formed, whose purpose was to bring together representatives of the government and of the major businesses. These representatives discussed economic policy and manipulated prices and wages so as to satisfy both the wishes of the government and the wishes of business.

This economic model based on a partnership between government and business was soon extended to the political sphere, in what came to be known as corporatism. At the same time, the aggressive foreign policy of Mussolini led to increasing military expenditure. After the invasion of Ethiopia, Italy intervened to support Franco's nationalists in the Spanish Civil War. By 1939, Italy had the highest percentage of state-owned enterprises after the Soviet Union.

Italy's involvement in World War II as a member of the Axis powers required the establishment of a war economy. The Allied invasion of Italy in 1943 eventually caused the Italian political structure – and the economy – to rapidly collapse. The Allies, on the one hand, and the Germans on the other, took over the administration of the areas of Italy under their control. By the end of the war, Italian per capita income was at its lowest point since the beginning of the 20th century.{{cite book |last=Lyttelton |first=Adrian |year=2002 |title=Liberal and Fascist Italy, 1900–1945 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D9gcBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA160 |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=13 |isbn=978-0-198-73198-6 |access-date=8 February 2015 }}{{Dead link|date=February 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

{{Main|Italian economic miracle}}

File:1962 Fiat 500 -- 2012 DC 2.JPG, launched in 1957, is considered a symbol of Italy's postwar economic miracle.{{cite news |last=Tagliabue |first=John |date=11 August 2007 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/11/business/worldbusiness/11fiat.html |title=Italian Pride Is Revived in a Tiny Fiat |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=8 February 2015 }}]]

File:Olivetti Programma 101 - Museo scienza e tecnologia Milano.jpg, developed in 1965 by Olivetti is considered one of the first programmable calculators ever and was an economic success internationally.{{Cite web

| title= 2008/107/1 Computer, Programma 101, and documents (3), plastic / metal / paper / electronic components, hardware architect Pier Giorgio Perotto, designed by Mario Bellini, made by Olivetti, Italy, 1965–1971

| website= www.powerhousemuseum.com

| language= en

| url= http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/collection/database/?irn=378406

| access-date= 2016-03-20

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{{cite web

| title= Cyber Heroes: Camillo Olivetti

| publisher= Hive Mind

| url= http://wvegter.hivemind.net/abacus/CyberHeroes/Olivetti.htm

| access-date= 2010-11-07

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After the end of World War II, Italy was in rubble and occupied by foreign armies, a condition that worsened the chronic development gap among the more advanced European economies. However, the new geopolitical logic of the Cold War made possible that the former enemy Italy, a hinge country between Western Europe and the Mediterranean, and now a new, fragile democracy threatened by the NATO occupation forces, the proximity of the Iron Curtain and the presence of a strong Communist party,{{cite book |last=Hogan |first=Michael J.| title=The Marshall Plan: America, Britain, and the reconstruction of Western Europe, 1947–1952 |url=https://archive.org/details/marshallplanamer00hoga_388 |url-access=limited |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1987 | location=Cambridge | pages=[https://archive.org/details/marshallplanamer00hoga_388/page/n57 44]–45 |isbn=978-0-521-37840-6}} was considered by the United States as an important ally for the Free World, and received under the Marshall Plan over US$1.2 billion from 1947 to 1951.

The end of aid through the Plan could have stopped the recovery but it coincided with a crucial point in the Korean War whose demand for metal and manufactured products was a further stimulus of Italian industrial production. In addition, the creation in 1957 of the European Common Market, with Italy as a founding member, provided more investment and eased exports.{{cite book| last1=Crafts |first1=Nicholas |last2=Toniolo |first2=Gianni |title=Economic Growth in Europe Since 1945| url=https://archive.org/details/economicgrowtheu1945craf_729 | url-access=limited | publisher = Cambridge University Press| year= 1996| location =Cambridge | page=[https://archive.org/details/economicgrowtheu1945craf_729/page/n452 428]| isbn = 978-0-521-49627-8}}

These favourable developments, combined with the presence of a large labour force, laid the foundation for spectacular economic growth that lasted almost uninterrupted until the "Hot Autumn's" massive strikes and social unrest of 1969–70, which then combined with the later 1973 oil crisis and put an abrupt end to the prolonged boom. It has been calculated that the Italian economy experienced an average rate of growth of GDP of 5.8% per year between 1951 and 1963, and 5% per year between 1964 and 1973. Italian rates of growth were second only, but very close, to the West German rates, in Europe, and among the OEEC countries only Japan had been doing better.{{cite book| last=Di Nolfo |first=Ennio | title = Power in Europe? Great Britain, France, Germany, and Italy, and the Origins of the EEC, 1952–57| publisher=Walter de Gruyter| year=1992| location=Berlin| page=198| isbn=978-3-11-012158-2}}

File:G7 leaders 1978.jpg (far left) with G7 leaders in Bonn, 1978]]

The 1970s were a period of economic, political turmoil and social unrest in Italy, known as Years of lead. Unemployment rose sharply, especially among the young, and by 1977 there were one million unemployed people under the age of 24. Inflation continued, aggravated by the increases in the price of oil in 1973 and 1979. The budget deficit became permanent and intractable, averaging about 10 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP), higher than any other industrial country. The lira fell steadily, from Lire 560 to the U.S. dollar in 1973 to Lire 1,400 in 1982.{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/297474/Italy/27780/Demographic-and-social-change |title=Italy since 1945: Demographic and social change |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica Online |access-date=8 February 2015 |archive-date=9 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150209055816/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/297474/Italy/27780/Demographic-and-social-change |url-status=live }}

The economic recession went on into the mid-1980s until a set of reforms led to the independence of the Bank of Italy{{cite book|last1=Vicarelli|first1=Fausto|last2=Sylla|first2=Richard|last3=Cairncross|first3=Alec|title=Central banks' independence in historical perspective|date=1988|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|location=Berlin|page=180|isbn=978-3110114409}} and a big reduction of the indexation of wages{{cite encyclopedia |title=Italy since 1945: The economy in the 1980s |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/297474/Italy/27784/The-economy-in-the-1980s |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica Online |access-date=8 February 2015 |archive-date=7 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150107133053/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/297474/Italy/27784/The-economy-in-the-1980s |url-status=live }} that strongly reduced inflation rates, from 20.6% in 1980 to 4.7% in 1987.{{cite web|title=L'Italia in 150 anni. Sommario di statistiche storiche 1861–2010|url=http://www3.istat.it/dati/catalogo/20120118_00/|publisher=ISTAT|access-date=8 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150209072207/http://www3.istat.it/dati/catalogo/20120118_00/|archive-date=9 February 2015|url-status=dead}} The new macroeconomic and political stability resulted in a second, export-led "economic miracle", based on small and medium-sized enterprises, producing clothing, leather products, shoes, furniture, textiles, jewellery, and machine tools. As a result of this rapid expansion, in 1987 Italy overtook the UK's economy (an event known as il sorpasso), becoming the fourth richest nation in the world, after the US, Japan and West Germany.{{cite web|first=Richard|last=Vietor|title=Italy's Economic Half-Miracle|url=http://www.strategy-business.com/article/17213?gko=2b421|date=1 April 2001|publisher=Strategy&|access-date=8 October 2014|archive-date=20 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171120074606/https://www.strategy-business.com/article/17213?gko=2b421|url-status=live}} The Milan stock exchange increased its market capitalization more than fivefold in the space of a few years.{{cite web|title=Italian Stock Exchange: Main Indicators (1975–2012)|url=http://www.borsaitaliana.it/borsaitaliana/ufficio-stampa/dati-storici/principaliindicatori2012_pdf.htm|publisher=Borsa Italiana|access-date=8 February 2015|archive-date=6 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181106211102/https://www.borsaitaliana.it/borsaitaliana/ufficio-stampa/dati-storici/principaliindicatori2012_pdf.htm|url-status=live}}

However, the Italian economy of the 1980s presented a problem: it was booming, thanks to increased productivity and surging exports, but unsustainable fiscal deficits drove the growth. In the 1990s, the new Maastricht criteria boosted the urge to curb the public debt, already at 104% of GDP in 1992.{{cite web|title=Italy: General government gross debt (Percent of GDP)|url=http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2014/02/weodata/weorept.aspx?pr.x=46&pr.y=19&sy=1988&ey=2019&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=136&s=GGXWDG_NGDP&grp=0&a=|publisher=International Monetary Fund|access-date=8 October 2014|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303235854/http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2014/02/weodata/weorept.aspx?pr.x=46&pr.y=19&sy=1988&ey=2019&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=136&s=GGXWDG_NGDP&grp=0&a=|url-status=live}} The consequent restrictive economic policies worsened the impact of the global recession already underway. After a brief recovery at the end of the 1990s, high tax rates and red tape caused the country to stagnate between 2000 and 2008.{{cite book |last=Balcerowicz |first=Leszek |year=2013 |title=Economic Growth in the European Union |url=http://www.lisboncouncil.net/growth/documents/LISBON_COUNCIL_Economic_Growth_in_the_EU%20(1).pdf |location=Brussels |publisher=Lisbon Council |page=13 |isbn=978-9-0902-7915-2 |access-date=8 October 2014 |archive-date=14 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714205108/http://www.lisboncouncil.net/growth/documents/LISBON_COUNCIL_Economic_Growth_in_the_EU%20(1).pdf |url-status=dead }}{{cite news|title="Secular stagnation" in graphics|url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2014/11/secular-stagnation-graphics|newspaper=The Economist|date=19 November 2014|access-date=8 February 2015|archive-date=23 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141123234145/http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2014/11/secular-stagnation-graphics|url-status=live}}

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European debt crisis in 2011
negative interest rates 2015-2022

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Italy was among the countries hit hardest by the Great Recession of 2008–2009 and the subsequent European debt crisis. The national economy shrunk by 6.76% during the whole period, totaling seven-quarters of recession.{{cite web |url=http://stats.oecd.org/index.aspx?queryid=350 |title=Quarterly Growth Rates of real GDP, change over previous quarter |publisher=OECD |access-date=8 February 2015 |archive-date=5 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190405042217/https://stats.oecd.org/index.aspx?queryid=350 |url-status=live }} In November 2011 the Italian bond yield was 6.74 per cent for 10-year bonds, nearing a 7 per cent level where Italy is thought to lose access to financial markets.{{cite news|first1=Barry|last1=Moody|first2=James|last2=Mackenzie|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/08/us-italy-idUSTRE7A72NG20111108|title=Berlusconi to resign after parliamentary setback|date=8 November 2011|work=Reuters|access-date=8 February 2015|archive-date=18 September 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120918220156/http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/08/us-italy-idUSTRE7A72NG20111108|url-status=live}} According to Eurostat, in 2015 the Italian government debt stood at 128% of GDP, ranking as the second biggest debt ratio after Greece (with 175%).{{cite web |url=http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&language=en&pcode=teina225&plugin=1 |title=General government gross debt |publisher=Eurostat |access-date=8 February 2015 |archive-date=6 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200206104737/http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&language=en&pcode=teina225&plugin=1 |url-status=live }} However, the biggest chunk of Italian public debt is owned by Italian nationals and relatively high levels of private savings and low levels of private indebtedness are seen as making it the safest among Europe's struggling economies.{{cite web |first=Lisa |last=Auret |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2010/05/18/could-italy-be-better-off-than-its-peers.html |title=Could Italy Be Better Off than its Peers? |publisher=CNBC |date=18 May 2010 |access-date=30 May 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430030613/http://www.cnbc.com/id/37207942/Could_Italy_Be_Better_Off_than_its_Peers |archive-date=30 April 2011 }}{{cite news|first=Rachel|last=Sanderson|url=http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/7756acd4-1cdf-11e0-8c86-00144feab49a.html#axzz1SIwD9iir |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/fFr0o |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Italian deficit narrows in third quarter| newspaper=Financial Times |date=10 January 2011 |access-date=16 July 2011}} As a shock therapy to avoid the debt crisis and kick-start growth, the national unity government led by the economist Mario Monti launched a program of massive austerity measures, that brought down the deficit but precipitated the country in a double-dip recession in 2012 and 2013, receiving criticism from numerous economists.{{cite news|last1=Krugman|first1=Paul|title=Austerity, Italian-Style|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/25/opinion/krugman-austerity-italian-style.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220103/https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/25/opinion/krugman-austerity-italian-style.html |archive-date=2022-01-03 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=26 November 2017|work=The New York Times|date=24 February 2013}}{{cbignore}}{{cite news|last1=Orsi|first1=Roberto|title=The Demise of Italy and the Rise of Chaos|newspaper=Euro Crisis in the Press |date=8 October 2013|url=http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/eurocrisispress/2013/10/08/the-demise-of-italy-and-the-rise-of-chaos/|publisher=London School of Economics|access-date=26 November 2017|archive-date=12 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412122838/https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/eurocrisispress/2013/10/08/the-demise-of-italy-and-the-rise-of-chaos/|url-status=live}}

In the period 2014-2019, the economy partially recovered from the disastrous losses incurred during the Great Recession, primarily thanks to strong exports, but nonetheless, growth rates remained well below the Euro area average, meaning that Italy's GDP in 2019 was still 5 per cent below its level in 2008.{{cite news |title=Italy exits recession as exports boost growth |url=https://www.ft.com/content/5715b188-6b35-11e9-80c7-60ee53e6681d |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/5715b188-6b35-11e9-80c7-60ee53e6681d |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription |access-date=6 December 2020 |publisher=Financial Times |date=30 April 2019}}

Starting from February 2020, Italy was the first country of Europe to be severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic,{{cite web |title=Coronavirus in Italia, i dati e la mappa |url=https://lab24.ilsole24ore.com/coronavirus/?utm_source=fasciahp |website=ilsole24ore.com |access-date=18 July 2020}} that eventually expanded to the rest of the world.

The economy suffered a massive shock as a result of the lockdown of most of the country's economic activity. After three months, at the end of May 2020, the pandemic was put under control, and the economy started to recover, especially, the manufacturing sector. Overall, it remained surprisingly resilient, although GDP plummeted like in most western countries.{{cite web |title=L'Italia che riparte |url=https://www.ilsole24ore.com/dossier/20200603-italia-riparte-ADuNiCV |website=ilsole24ore.com |access-date=18 July 2020 |archive-date=18 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718055834/https://www.ilsole24ore.com/dossier/20200603-italia-riparte-ADuNiCV |url-status=live }}{{cite news |title=Why Can't Trump's America Be Like Italy? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/23/opinion/us-italy-coronavirus.html |work=The New York Times |date=23 July 2020 |access-date=27 July 2020 |last1=Krugman |first1=Paul |archive-date=26 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726215804/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/23/opinion/us-italy-coronavirus.html |url-status=live }}

The Italian government issued special treasury bills, known as BTP Futura{{cite web |title=BTP Futura – Prima Emissione |url=https://www.borsaitaliana.it/obbligazioni/bpt-italia/btpfutura.htm |website=borsaitaliana.it |access-date=18 July 2020 |archive-date=18 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201018202714/https://www.borsaitaliana.it/obbligazioni/bpt-italia/btpfutura.htm |url-status=dead }} as a COVID-19 emergency funding, waiting for the approval of the E.U. response to the outbreak.{{cite web |title=Recovery Fund e bilancio: ecco le poste in gioco al Consiglio europeo |url=https://www.ilsole24ore.com/art/recovery-fund-e-bilancio-ecco-poste-gioco-consiglio-europeo-ADxrbte |website=ilsole24ore.com |date=17 July 2020 |access-date=18 July 2020 |archive-date=18 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718042521/https://www.ilsole24ore.com/art/recovery-fund-e-bilancio-ecco-poste-gioco-consiglio-europeo-ADxrbte |url-status=live }} Eventually, in July 2020, the European Council approved the 750 billion € Next Generation EU fund,[https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/meetings/european-council/2020/07/17-21/ Special European Council, 17-21 July 2020] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718205218/https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/meetings/european-council/2020/07/17-18/ |date=18 July 2020 }} Retrieved 15 November 2020. of which €209 billion will go to Italy.{{cite news |title=EU recovery fund gives chance to 'change the face' of Italy |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-summit-conte/conte-eu-recovery-fund-gives-chance-to-change-the-face-of-italy-idUSKCN24M0JF |access-date=2 September 2020 |work=Reuters |date=21 July 2020 |language=en |archive-date=3 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803231817/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-summit-conte/conte-eu-recovery-fund-gives-chance-to-change-the-face-of-italy-idUSKCN24M0JF |url-status=live }}

File:Ferrari_Portofino_IMG_0532.jpg represents the synergy of "Made in Italy" brands that strengthens the Italian economy.]]

Beginning in 2022, after the COVID-19 pandemic, Italy restarted with a resilient economy{{cite news |title=Pil, continua il trend positivo: la produzione cresce di quasi 100 miliardi rispetto al 2021 |url=https://www.ilgiornale.it/news/politica-economica/pil-italiano-cresce-100-miliardi-2372138.html |access-date=24 September 2024 |agency=ilgiornale.it |publisher=ilgiornale.it |date=23 September 2024}} which nonetheless had to face the global energy crisis of 2021-2023, involving an increase in gas and other energy prices due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022. This crisis created the need to find an alternative supplier to Russia, subject to European Union sanctions.

With rising energy prices, inflation rose in Europe, which was addressed by the European Central Bank with a progressive increase in interest rates.

Furthermore, the PNRR ({{Interlanguage link|Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza|it}}) had to be re-calibrated and re-agreed with the European Union, to address the new geopolitical situation which led to the energy crisis and damage to supply chains, causing shortages in raw materials.{{cite news |title=Prezzi del gas e impatto sull'economia. Un monito per il Governo che verrà |url=https://www.econopoly.ilsole24ore.com/2022/09/12/gas-economia-impatto/ |access-date=23 September 2024 |agency=ilsole24ore.com |publisher=ilsole24ore.com |date=12 September 2022}}

In March 2023, the United States banking crisis occurred with some bankruptcies and restructuring of American banks, however it was soon understood that it was a short-lived economic-financial phenomenon limited to the United States, although with some concern, it has not had an impact in the European area, with the exception of the collapse of Credit Suisse, in Switzerland. As a consequence, Italy is witnessing a tightening of its credit policies.

For Italian banks, there was an opportunity to strengthen themselves, thanks to the high rates imposed by the European Central Bank. The new BTP Valore bonds were released, which were very successful among the private operators to whom they were marketed due to the high interest rates.{{cite web |title=BTP Valore, il titolo di Stato per i piccoli risparmiatori |url=https://www.mef.gov.it/focus/BTP-Valore-il-titolo-di-Stato-per-i-piccoli-risparmiatori/ |website=mef.gov.it |access-date=24 September 2024}}{{cite news |title=BTp Valore, raccolti 14,6 miliardi in tre giorni. Borse chiudono deboli, bitcoin oltre 61mila $ |url=https://www.ilsole24ore.com/art/borsa-country-garden-richiesta-liquidazione-domanda-forte-btp-valore-AFY2PisC |access-date=24 September 2024 |agency=ilsole24ore.com |publisher=ilsole24ore.com |date=28 February 2024}} From October 7, 2023, geopolitical tensions are becoming more intense, related to the conflict in the Middle East. In 2024, however, the Italian economy continues to maintain its resilient strength, thanks to the reduction in energy prices, and the maintenance or reduction of oil prices, this stability allows a reduction in inflation. In September 2024, the European Central Bank has decreased interest rates by 0.25 percentage points. The Italian economy copes with a geopolitical scenario that was significantly deteriorating with the exacerbation of ongoing war conflicts. Strategic assets are better protected, in particular the defense sector. Furthermore, the implementation of the PNRR plan, which must be completed by 2026, has brought benefits to many economic sectors.{{cite news |title=Con la spinta del Pnrr fino a 3,9 milioni di assunzioni nei prossimi 5 anni: finanza, commercio e turismo in pole |url=https://www.ilsole24ore.com/art/con-spinta-pnrr-fino-39-milioni-assunzioni-prossimi-5-anni-finanza-commercio-e-turismo-pole-AFjq06kD |access-date=24 September 2024 |agency=ilsole24ore.com |publisher=ilsole24ore.com |date=6 September 2024}}{{cite news |title=Perché dopo il Covid il Pil italiano cresce più di Germania e Francia |url=https://24plus.ilsole24ore.com/art/perche-il-covid-pil-italiano-cresce-piu-germania-e-francia-AGONuxB |access-date=25 September 2024 |agency=ilsole24ore.com |publisher=ilsole24ore.com |date=25 September 2024}}

{{main|History of coins in Italy}}

File:100 lire Repubblica Italiana 1956.jpg holding an olive tree and a long spear depicted on the reverse]]

Italy has a long history of different coinage types, which spans thousands of years. Italy has been influential at a coinage point of view: the medieval Florentine florin, one of the most used coinage types in European history and one of the most important coins in Western history,{{cite web|url=http://www.ilgiornaledellanumismatica.it/dossier-speciale-il-fiorino-di-firenze-breve-storia-del-dollaro-del-medioevo/|title=IL FIORINO DI FIRENZE, STORIA DEL "DOLLARO DEL MEDIOEVO"|date=19 January 2017|access-date=4 October 2023|language=it|archive-date=5 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231005095053/http://www.ilgiornaledellanumismatica.it/dossier-speciale-il-fiorino-di-firenze-breve-storia-del-dollaro-del-medioevo/|url-status=live}} was struck in Florence in the 13th century, while the Venetian sequin, minted from 1284 to 1797, was the most prestigious gold coin in circulation in the commercial centers of the Mediterranean Sea.{{Cite book|author=Nicolò Papadopoli Aldobrandini|title=Le monete di Venezia descritte ed illustrate da Nicolò Papadopoli Aldobrandini|year=2009|publisher="Progetto Gutenberg Piero Vianelli|page=136|language=it}}

Despite the fact that the first Italian coinage systems were used in the Magna Graecia and Etruscan civilization, the Romans introduced a widespread currency throughout Italy. Unlike most modern coins, Roman coins had intrinsic value.{{cite web|url=https://www.homolaicus.com/storia/antica/roma/monete.htm|title=IL VALORE DELLE MONETE ROMANE|access-date=4 October 2023|language=it|archive-date=10 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230610112256/http://www.homolaicus.com/storia/antica/roma/monete.htm|url-status=live}} The early modern Italian coins were very similar in style to French francs, especially in decimals, since it was ruled by the country in the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy. They corresponded to a value of 0.29 grams of gold or 4.5 grams of silver.{{cite web|url=http://www.ilmarengo.com/italia/welcome.htm|title=Italian coins|website=ilmarengo.com|access-date=14 April 2018|archive-date=8 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808023109/http://www.ilmarengo.com/italia/welcome.htm|url-status=live}}

Since Italy has been for centuries divided into many historic states, they all had different coinage systems, but when the country became unified in 1861, the Italian lira came into place, and was used until 2002. The term originates from libra, the largest unit of the Carolingian monetary system used in Western Europe and elsewhere from the 8th to the 20th century.The last country to abandon the Carolingian system was Nigeria in 1973, when the pound was replaced by the naira. In 1999, the euro became Italy's unit of account and the lira became a national subunit of the euro at a rate of 1 euro = 1,936.27 lire, before being replaced as cash in 2002.

The following table shows the main economic indicators in 1980–2023 (with IMF staff estimates in 2024–2029). Inflation below 5% is in green.{{cite web | url = https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/weo-database/2024/October/weo-report?c=136,&s=NGDP_RPCH,NGDPD,PPPGDP,NGDPDPC,PPPPC,PCPIPCH,LUR,GGXWDG_NGDP,&sy=2022&ey=2029&ssm=0&scsm=1&scc=0&ssd=1&ssc=0&sic=0&sort=country&ds=.&br=1 | title=Report for Selected Countries and Subjects | access-date=19 December 2024 }}

{{static row numbers}}{{sticky header}}

File:GDP per capita development in Italy.jpg{{clear}}

{{Further|List of companies of Italy|List of largest Italian companies}}

This list displays all 5 Italian companies on the Fortune Global 500 List, which ranks the world's largest companies by annual revenue.{{cite web |title=Global 500 |url=https://fortune.com/global500/2019/search/?hqcountry=Germany |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20210620152854/https://fortune.com/global500/2019/search/?hqcountry=Germany |archivedate=20 June 2021 |accessdate=30 March 2020 |website=Fortune}} The figures below are given in millions of US dollars and are for the fiscal year 2018. Also listed are the headquarters location, net profit and industry sector of each company.

In 2022, the sector with the highest number of companies registered in Italy is Services with 654,065 companies followed by Retail Trade and Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate with 519,448 and 348,881 companies respectively.{{cite web | url=https://www.hithorizons.com/eu/analyses/country-statistics/italy | title=Industry Breakdown of Companies in Italy | website=HitHorizons | access-date=14 July 2023 | archive-date=14 July 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230714131814/https://www.hithorizons.com/eu/analyses/country-statistics/italy | url-status=live }}

{{Further|List of Italian billionaires}}

File:Stefano Pessina bluebackground.jpg]]

Italy has 1.3 million people with a net wealth greater than $1 million, a total national wealth of $11.020 trillion, and represents the 9th largest cumulative net wealth globally (it accounts for 2.4% of the net wealth in the world).{{Cite book |last=Shorrocks |first=Anthony |author-link=Anthony Shorrocks |url=https://www.ubs.com/us/en/wealth-management/insights/global-wealth-report.html |title=Global Wealth Databook 2024 |last2=Davies |first2=James |last3=Lluberas |first3=Rodrigo |publisher=UBS and Credit Suisse Research Institute |year=2023}} According to the UBS's Global Wealth Databook 2024, the median wealth per adult is $113,754 (14th in the world),{{cite web |title=Global Wealth Report 2024 |url=https://www.ubs.com/content/dam/assets/wm/global/insights/doc/global-wealth-report.pdf |publisher=UBS}} See page 18 for top 25 countries in median wealth per adult, and top 25 countries in average (mean) wealth per adult. They are not the same 25 countries. Report does not have data for more countries. while according to the Allianz's Global Wealth Report 2024, the net financial wealth per capita is €76,930 (14th in the world).{{Cite news |title=Media Release: Allianz Global Wealth Report 2024: Surprising relief |url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240923445580/en/Media-Release-Allianz-Global-Wealth-Report-2024-Surprising-relief |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240925033249/https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240923445580/en/Media-Release-Allianz-Global-Wealth-Report-2024-Surprising-relief/ |archive-date=25 September 2024 |access-date=2025-04-22 |language=en |url-status=live }}

The following top 10 list of Italian billionaires is based on an annual assessment of wealth and assets compiled and published by Forbes in 2017.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.forbes.com/billionaires/list/14/#version:static |title=The World's Billionaires, 2017 Rankings |year=2017 |magazine=Forbes |access-date=26 November 2017 |archive-date=18 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180918161508/https://www.forbes.com/billionaires/list/14/#version:static |url-status=live }}

{{Further|List of Italian regions by GDP}}

File:Map of Italian regions by GDP per capita in euros (2018) shades of blue-green.png

{{main|Southern question}}

File:Italy Industry 1871.svg in 1871 (the national average is 1.0). Source: Bank of Italy.

{{legend|#550000|Over 1.4}}

{{legend|#D40000|From 1.1 to 1.4}}

{{legend|#FF8080|From 0.9 to 1.1}}

{{legend|#FFFFFF|Up to 0.9}}]]

File:Map of the Italian Diaspora in the World.svg in the world]]

In the decades following the unification of Italy, the northern regions of the country, Lombardy, Piedmont and Liguria in particular, began a process of industrialization and economic development while the southern regions remained behind.{{Cite web|title=meridionale, questione nell'Enciclopedia Treccani|url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/questione-meridionale|access-date=4 February 2021|website=www.treccani.it|language=it-IT|archive-date=8 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210208235421/https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/questione-meridionale|url-status=live}} At the time of the unification of the country, there was a shortage of entrepreneurs in the south, with landowners who were often absent from their farms as they lived permanently in the city, leaving the management of their funds to managers, who were not encouraged by the owners to make the agricultural estates to the maximum.{{cite web|url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/latifondo_%28Enciclopedia-dei-ragazzi%29/|title=Latifondo|access-date=9 May 2022|language=it|archive-date=9 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220509132143/https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/latifondo_(Enciclopedia-dei-ragazzi)/|url-status=live}} Landowners invested not in agricultural equipment, but in such things as low-risk state bonds.{{cite journal | last = McDonald | first = J.S. | title = Some Socio-Economic Emigration Differentials in Rural Italy, 1902-1913 | journal = Economic Development and Cultural Change | volume = 7 | issue = 1 | pages = 55–72 |date=October 1958 | doi = 10.1086/449779 | s2cid = 153889304 | issn = 0013-0079}}

In southern Italy, the unification of the country broke down the feudal land system, which had survived in the south since the Middle Ages, especially where land had been the inalienable property of aristocrats, religious bodies or the king. The breakdown of feudalism, however, and redistribution of land did not necessarily lead to small farmers in the south winding up with land of their own or land they could work and make profit from. Many remained landless, and plots grew smaller and smaller and so less and less productive, as land was subdivided amongst heirs.

This gap between northern and southern Italy, called "southern question", was also induced by the region-specific policies selected by the post-unitary governments.{{Cite book|title=The Force of Destiny: A History of Italy since 1796|last=Duggan|first=Christopher|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company|year=2008|location=New York, NY|pages=141}} For example, the 1887 protectionist reform, instead of safeguarding the arboriculture sectors crushed by 1880s fall in prices, shielded the Po Valley wheat breeding and those Northern textile and manufacturing industries that had survived the liberal years due to state intervention.{{Cite book|title=Unità Nazionale e Sviluppo Economico 1750–1913|last=Pescosolido|first=Guido|publisher=Edizioni Nuova Cultura|location=Roma|pages=64, 177–182, 202}} A similar logic guided the assignment of monopoly rights in the steamboat construction and navigation sectors and, above all, the public spending in the railway sector, which represented 53% of the 1861–1911 total.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bancaditalia.it/pubblicazioni/quaderni-storia/2011-0022/index.html?com.dotmarketing.htmlpage.language=1|title=Convergence among Italian Regions, 1861–2011|last=Giovanni Iuzzolino, Guido Pellegrini and|first=Gianfranco Viesti|access-date=1 December 2018|archive-date=29 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190729135556/https://www.bancaditalia.it/pubblicazioni/quaderni-storia/2011-0022/index.html?com.dotmarketing.htmlpage.language=1|url-status=live}}

The resources necessary to finance the public spending effort were obtained through highly unbalanced land property taxes, which affected the key source of savings available for investment in the growth sectors absent a developed banking system.{{Cite book|title=Unità Nazionale e Sviluppo Economico 1750–1913|last=Pescosolido|first=Guido|publisher=Edizioni Nuova Cultura|year=2014|location=Roma|pages=90–92, 118–120, 157}} Given the inability of the government to estimate the land profitability, especially because of the huge differences among the regional cadast:ers, this policy irreparably induced large regional discrepancies.{{Cite book|title=La Politica Fiscale e le Entrate Effettive del Regno d'Italia 1860–1890|last=Parravicini|first=Giannino|publisher=ILTE|year=1958|location=Turin}} This policy destroyed the relationship between the central state and the Southern population by unchaining first a civil war called Brigandage, which brought about 20,000 victims by 1864 and the militarization of the area, and then favouring emigration, especially from 1892 to 1921.{{cite book|title=Modern Italy: A Political History|last=Smith|first=Dennis M.|publisher=University of Michigan Press|year=1997|isbn=978-0-472-10895-4|location=Ann Arbor|pages=209–210}}

The north–south gap was intensified by language differences. Southerners spoke the Sicilian language or a variation of it: a language that developed from Latin and other influences independently of and prior to the Tuscan dialect that was adopted as the official Italian language ("standard Italian"). The Sicilian language is a complete, distinct language with its own vocabulary, syntax and grammar rules, the latter being less complex than standard Italian. But because of its similarity to Italian, northerners incorrectly assumed that it was an imperfect dialect of Italian and denigrated it as the "dialect of the poor and ignorant". This has led to continued bias by the North against southerners who "don't speak proper Italian".

After the rise of Benito Mussolini, the "Iron Prefect" Cesare Mori tried to defeat the already powerful criminal organizations flourishing in the South with some degree of success. Fascist policy aimed at the creation of an Italian Empire and Southern Italian ports were strategic for all commerce towards the colonies. With the invasion of Southern Italy during World War II, the Allies restored the authority of the mafia families, lost during the Fascist period, and used their influence to maintain public order.{{cite book|last=Newark|first=Tim|title=Mafia Allies: The True Story of America's Secret Alliance with the Mob in World War II|year=2007|publisher=MBI Publishing Company|location=London|isbn=978-0-7603-2457-8|pages=123–135}} Mussolini also established laws requiring standard Italian to be taught in school, and discouraging the use of local Italian dialects throughout the nation, as well as the Sicilian language.

In the 1950s the Cassa per il Mezzogiorno was set up as a huge public master plan to help industrialize the South, aiming to do this in two ways: through land reforms creating 120,000 new smallholdings, and through the "Growth Pole Strategy" whereby 60% of all government investment would go to the South, thus boosting the Southern economy by attracting new capital, stimulating local firms, and providing employment. However, the objectives were largely missed, and as a result, the South became increasingly subsidized and state-dependent, incapable of generating private growth itself.{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/297474/Italy/27779/The-south|title=Italy: The South|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica Online|date=3 February 2015|access-date=9 February 2015|archive-date=9 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150209122655/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/297474/Italy/27779/The-south|url-status=live}}

The imbalance between North and South was reduced in the 1960s and 1970s through the construction of public works, the implementation of agrarian and scholastic reforms,{{Cite journal|last=Torres|first=Raymond|date=May 2014|title=Sintesi del rapporto-Rapporto sul mondo del lavoro 2014: L'occupazione al centro dello sviluppo|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/wow3.54|journal=World of Work Report|volume=2014|issue=1|pages=i–8|doi=10.1002/wow3.54|issn=2049-9280|url-access=subscription}} the expansion of industrialization and the improved living conditions of the population. This convergence process was interrupted, however, in the 1980s. To date, the per capita GDP of the South is just 58% of that of the Center-North,{{Cite web|date=2 February 2012|title=Principali aggregati dei conti economici regionali|url=https://www.istat.it/it/archivio/52316|access-date=4 February 2021|website=www.istat.it|language=it|archive-date=8 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210208225253/https://www.istat.it/it/archivio/52316|url-status=live}} but this gap is mitigated by the fact that there the cost of living is around 10-15% lower on average (with even more differences between small towns and big cities) than that in the North of Italy.{{Cite web|date=2010-10-25|title=Le statistiche sui livelli dei prezzi al consumo sul territorio: primi risultati e prospettive. La domanda di informazioni sui differenziali territoriali tra i prezzi.|url=https://www.istat.it/it/files/2011/01/Cannari_intervento.pdf|access-date=2022-01-18|website=www.istat.it|language=it|archive-date=23 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220123013721/https://www.istat.it/it/files/2011/01/Cannari_intervento.pdf|url-status=live}} In the South the unemployment rate is more than double (6.7% in the North against 14.9% in the South).{{Cite web|date=2 April 2012|title=Occupati e disoccupati|url=https://www.istat.it/it/archivio/58306|access-date=4 February 2021|website=www.istat.it|language=it|archive-date=3 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201203192616/https://www.istat.it/it/archivio/58306|url-status=live}} A study by Censis blames the pervasive presence of criminal organizations for the delay of Southern Italy, estimating an annual loss of wealth of 2.5% in the South in the period between 1981–2003 due to their presence, and that without them the per capita GDP of the South would have reached that of the North.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Senza la mafia il Sud raggiunge il Nord|url=http://www.censis.it/10?resource_50=4721|access-date=4 February 2021|website=Censis|language=it|archive-date=7 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181107000129/http://www.censis.it/10?resource_50=4721|url-status=dead}}

{{Main|Agriculture in Italy}}

File:Vineyards in Piemonte, Italy.jpg. Italy is the world's largest wine producer (22% of the global market), as well as the country with the widest variety of indigenous grapevine in the world.{{Cite web|url=http://www.inumeridelvino.it/2018/11/la-produzione-di-vino-nel-mondo-2018-prima-stima-oiv.html|title=L'Italia è il maggiore produttore di vino|date=25 November 2018 |access-date=11 November 2021|language=it}}{{Cite web|url=https://giornalevinocibo.com/2017/06/03/italia-prima-assoluta-per-vitgni-autoctoni-ecco-i-dati-dei-vari-stati/|title=L'Italia è il paese con più vitigni autoctoni al mondo|date=3 June 2017|access-date=11 November 2021|language=it}}]]

File:Veduta della Basilica di San Francesco ad Assisi (2).JPG. The Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi is in the background.]]

According to the last national agricultural census, there were 1.6 million farms in 2010 (−32.4% since 2000) covering {{convert|12700000|ha|0|abbr=on|disp=or}} (63% of which are located in Southern Italy).{{cite web |url=http://dati-censimentoagricoltura.istat.it/ |title=Censimento Agricoltura 2010 |date=24 October 2010 |publisher=ISTAT |access-date=11 February 2015 |archive-date=13 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150213021626/http://dati-censimentoagricoltura.istat.it/ |url-status=live }} The vast majority (99%) are family-operated and small, averaging only {{convert|8|ha|0|abbr=on}} in size. Of the total surface area in agricultural use (forestry excluded), grain fields take up 31%, olive tree orchards 8.2%, vineyards 5.4%, citrus orchards 3.8%, sugar beets 1.7%, and horticulture 2.4%. The remainder is primarily dedicated to pastures (25.9%) and feed grains (11.6%). The northern part of Italy produces primarily maize corn, rice, sugar beets, soybeans, meat, fruits and dairy products, while the South specializes in wheat, olive and citrus fruits. Livestock includes 6 million head of cattle, 8.6 million head of swine, 6.8 million head of sheep, and 0.9 million head of goats. The total annual production of the fishing industry in Italy from capture and aquaculture, including crustaceans and molluscs, is around 480,000 tons.

Italy is the largest producer of wine in the world, and one of the leading producers of olive oil, fruits (apples, olives, grapes, oranges, lemons, pears, apricots, hazelnuts, peaches, cherries, plums, strawberries, and kiwifruits), and vegetables (especially artichokes and tomatoes). The most famous Italian wines are the Tuscan Chianti and the Piedmontese Barolo. Other famous wines are Barbaresco, Barbera d'Asti, Brunello di Montalcino, Frascati, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, Morellino di Scansano, Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG and the sparkling wines Franciacorta and Prosecco. Quality goods in which Italy specialises, particularly the already mentioned wines and regional cheeses, are often protected under the quality assurance labels DOC/DOP. This geographical indication certificate, which is attributed by the European Union, is considered important to avoid confusion with low-quality mass-produced ersatz products.

In fact, Italian cuisine is one of the most popular and copied around the world.{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-13760559 |title=How pasta became the world's favourite food |publisher=bbc |date=15 June 2011 |access-date=28 September 2014 |archive-date=22 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140922021824/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-13760559 |url-status=live }} The lack or total unavailability of some of its most characteristic ingredients outside of Italy, also and above all to falsifications (or food fraud), leads to the complete denaturalization of Italian ingredients.{{cite web|url=https://www.lacucinaitaliana.it/news/trend/contraffazione-alimentare/|title=I finti prodotti italiani? Anche in Italia!|date=4 February 2016|access-date=30 November 2021|language=it|archive-date=30 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211130151830/https://www.lacucinaitaliana.it/news/trend/contraffazione-alimentare/|url-status=live}} This phenomenon, widespread in all continents, is better known as Italian Sounding, consisting in the use of words as well as images, colour combinations (the Italian tricolour), geographical references, brands evocative of Italy to promote and market agri-food products which in reality have nothing to do with Italian cuisine.{{Cite web|url=https://www.agrifood.tech/sicurezza-alimentare/italian-sounding-food-che-cose-e-come-funziona/|title=In cosa consiste l'Italian Sounding|date=25 March 2020|access-date=30 November 2021|language=it|archive-date=18 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211118225932/https://www.agrifood.tech/sicurezza-alimentare/italian-sounding-food-che-cose-e-come-funziona/|url-status=live}}

File:The Eni building, Quartiere XXXII Europa, Roma, Lazio, Italy - panoramio.jpg is considered one of the world's oil and gas "Supermajors"{{Cite web|url=https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/oil-gas-and-mining/spotlight-sharpens/|title=The spotlight sharpens: Eni and corruption in Republic of Congo's oil sector|website=Global Witness}}]]

File:Arduino UNO unpacked.jpg, a MCU board made in Italy has gained popularity worldwide{{Cite news |last=Armenta |first=Antonio |date=September 8, 2022 |title=Introduction to Arduino: History, Hardware, and Software |url=https://control.com/technical-articles/introduction-to-arduino-history-hardware-and-software/ |work=control.com}}]]

Italy is the world's sixth-largest manufacturing country. Italy has a smaller number of global multinational corporations than other economies of comparable size, but it has a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises, many of them grouped in clusters, which are the backbone of the Italian industry.{{cite book|last=Mignone|first=Mario B.|title=Italy today: Facing the Challenges of the New Millennium|year=2008|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tv2R8FfFpREC&pg=PA161|publisher=Lang Publishing|location=New York City|isbn=978-1-4331-0187-8|pages=161–162}} This results in a manufacturing sector often focused on the export of niche market and luxury products, that is less capable of competing on quantity but is more capable of facing the competition of emerging economies based on lower labour costs, given the higher quality of its products.{{cite news|url=http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/ECAEXT/0,,contentMDK:21808326~menuPK:258604~pagePK:2865106~piPK:2865128~theSitePK:258599,00.html|title=Knowledge Economy Forum 2008: Innovative Small And Medium Enterprises Are Key To Europe & Central Asian Growth|publisher=World Bank|date=19 May 2005|access-date=17 June 2008|archive-date=23 June 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080623065619/http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/ECAEXT/0,,contentMDK:21808326~menuPK:258604~pagePK:2865106~piPK:2865128~theSitePK:258599,00.html|url-status=dead}}

The industrial districts are regionalized: in the Northwest, there is a large modern group of industries, as in the so-called "industrial triangle" (Milan-Turin-Genoa), where there is an area of intense machinery, automotive, aerospace production and shipbuilding; in the Northeast, an area that experienced social and economic development mostly around family-based firms, there are mostly small and medium enterprises of lower technology but high craftsmanship, specializing in machinery, clothing, leather products, footwear, furniture, textiles, machine tools, spare parts, home appliances, and jewellery. In central Italy, there are mostly small and medium-sized companies specializing in products such as textiles, leather, jewellery but also machinery.{{cite book|last=Friedman|first=Jonathan|title=Globalization, the State, and Violence|year=2003|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QiZjFOsc2TMC&pg=PA97|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|location=Lanham|isbn=978-0-7591-0280-4|page=97}} According to a study carried out in 2015 by the Edison Foundation and Confindustria on the most industrialized provinces in Europe, of the five most industrialized provinces in Europe, three are Italian provinces. Brescia turns out to be the first European province for value added by industry, with an added value over 10 billion euros.{{Cite web |title=BRESCIA, THE CAPITAL OF EUROPEAN INDUSTRY |url=https://www.fierabie.com/brescia-the-capital-of-the-european-industry/ |access-date=18 August 2023 |archive-date=18 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230818163642/https://www.fierabie.com/brescia-the-capital-of-the-european-industry/ |url-status=live }}

The automotive industry in Italy is a significant part of the manufacturing sector, with over 144,000 firms and almost 485,000 employed people in 2015,{{cite web |url=http://www.adnkronos.com/soldi/economia/2015/09/23/auto-settore-mila-imprese-italia-mld-fatturato_WooBmrBqxgxO7mOvIRXUBI.html |title=Auto: settore da 144mila imprese in Italia e 117 mld fatturato |access-date=23 September 2015 |work=adnkronos.com|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925121926/http://www.adnkronos.com/soldi/economia/2015/09/23/auto-settore-mila-imprese-italia-mld-fatturato_WooBmrBqxgxO7mOvIRXUBI.html |archive-date=25 September 2015}} and a contribution of 8.5% to Italian GDP.{{cite web |url=http://acea.thisconnect.com/index.php/country_profiles/detail/italy |title=Country Profiles – Italy |access-date=9 February 2008 |work=acea.thisconnect.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080211190839/http://acea.thisconnect.com/index.php/country_profiles/detail/italy |archive-date=11 February 2008|url-status=dead}} Italy's automotive industry is best known for its automobile designs and small city cars, sports and supercars. Italy is one of the significant automobile producers both in Europe and around the world. Today the Italian automotive industry is almost totally dominated by Fiat Group (now included in Stellantis corporation). As well as its own, predominantly mass market model range, Stellantis owns the mainstream Fiat brand, the upmarket Alfa Romeo and Lancia brands, and the exotic Maserati brand. Luxury cars such as Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati and Ducati motorcycles are also made in the Northeast region of Emilia-Romagna. Italian cars have won the annual European Car of the Year award several times (with Fiat winning more than any other manufacturer), and have also been awarded the World Car of the Year award.

{{main|Italian Bourse|List of banks in Italy|Tourism in Italy}}

File:Palazzo mezzanotte Milan Stock Exchange.jpg in Milan, the seat of the Italian Bourse]]

File:Portofino_-_2016-06-02_-_View_from_Chiesa_San_Giorgio_-_3284.jpg in Italian Riviera]]

File:Positano - Fornillo Beach.jpg, one of Italy's major tourist destinations[http://www.italy24.ilsole24ore.com/art/business-and-economy/2017-05-04/turismo-stranieri-124013.php?uuid=AEVg9GGB "Foreign tourist numbers in Italy head towards new record"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170601184213/http://www.italy24.ilsole24ore.com/art/business-and-economy/2017-05-04/turismo-stranieri-124013.php?uuid=AEVg9GGB |date=1 June 2017 }}, Retrieved 21 May 2017.]]

In Italy, services represent the most important sector of the economy, both in terms of number of employees (67% of the total) and value-added (71%).{{Cite web|url=http://www.comufficio.it/site/comufficio_webprofessional_it/Sintesi_Congiunturale.pdf|access-date=16 February 2010|title=I numeri dei Terziario - Confcommercio - Anno 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722030519/http://www.comufficio.it/site/comufficio_webprofessional_it/Sintesi_Congiunturale.pdf|archive-date=22 July 2011|language=it}} Furthermore, the sector is by far the most dynamic: over 51% of the more than 5,000,000 companies operating in Italy today belong to the services sector, and in this sector over 67% of new businesses are born.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ascompd.com/comunicati/Comunicati2007/210507a.html|access-date=10 February 2010|title=Il vero "motore" dell'economia è il settore terziario|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524134258/http://www.ascompd.com/comunicati/Comunicati2007/210507a.html|archive-date=24 May 2011|language=it}} Very important activities in Italy are tourism, trade, services to people and businesses (advanced tertiary).

In 2006 the main sectoral data are: for trade, there are 1,600,000 enterprises, equal to 26% of the Italian entrepreneurial fabric, and over 3,500,000 work units. Transport, communications, tourism and consumption outside the home, over 582,000 businesses, equal to 9.5% of the entrepreneurial fabric, almost 3,500,000 work units. Business services: 630,000 registered companies, equal to 10.3% of the entrepreneurial fabric, over 2,800,000 work units. In 2004 the transport sector in Italy generated a turnover of about 119.4 billion euros, employing 935,700 persons in 153,700 enterprises.

Italian Bourse, based in Milan, is the Italian stock exchange. It manages and organises the domestic market, regulating procedures for admission and listing of companies and intermediaries and supervising disclosures for listed companies.italy24.ilsole4ore.com, "[http://www.italy24.ilsole24ore.com/art/lexicon/2015-01-23/borsa-italiana-173534.php?uuid=ABNEc5iC&order=oldest Borsa Italiana] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170801082635/http://www.italy24.ilsole24ore.com/art/lexicon/2015-01-23/borsa-italiana-173534.php?uuid=ABNEc5iC&order=oldest |date=1 August 2017 }}" Following exchange privatisation in 1997, the Italian Bourse was established and became effective on 2 January 1998.source sense.com, "[https://www.sourcesense.com/en/portfolio/borsa-italiana/ Borsa Italiana] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180207152945/https://www.sourcesense.com/en/portfolio/borsa-italiana/ |date=7 February 2018 }}" On 23 June 2007, the Italian Bourse became a subsidiary of the London Stock Exchange Group.news.bbc.co.uk, "[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6233196.stm London Stock Exchange Buys Borsa] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150404111113/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6233196.stm |date=4 April 2015 }}" As of April 2018, overall capitalisation for listed companies on Borsa Italiana was worth €644.3 billion, representing 37.8% of Italian GDP.finanzalternativa.it, "[http://www.finanzalternativa.it/2017-12-29-bilancio-2017-di-borsa-italiana-il-ftse-mib-cresce-del-155-anno-record-per-le-ammissioni-39-la-capitalizzazione-vola-a-6443-miliardi-227/] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220327090818/http://www.finanzalternativa.it/2017-12-29-bilancio-2017-di-borsa-italiana-il-ftse-mib-cresce-del-155-anno-record-per-le-ammissioni-39-la-capitalizzazione-vola-a-6443-miliardi-227/|date=27 March 2022}}"

Italy is the fourth most visited country, with a total of 57 million arrivals in 2023.{{cite web |title=World Tourism Barometer |url=https://pre-webunwto.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/2024-06/Barom_PPT_May_2024.pdf?VersionId=U7O62HatlG4eNAj.wcmuQG1PMCjK.Yss |publisher=World Tourism Organization |access-date=24 June 2024 |date=May 2024 |page=19}} The total contribution of the tourism in Italy to GDP (including wider effects from investment, the supply chain and induced income impacts) was EUR162.7bn in 2014 (10.1% of GDP) and generated 1,082,000 jobs directly in 2014 (4.8% of total employment).{{cite web |title=Travel & Tourism Economic Impact 2015 Italy |url=https://www.wttc.org/-/media/files/reports/economic%20impact%20research/countries%202015/italy2015.pdf |publisher=World Travel and Tourism Council |access-date=20 May 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010152616/https://www.wttc.org/-/media/files/reports/economic%20impact%20research/countries%202015/italy2015.pdf |archive-date=10 October 2017 }} Factors of tourist interest in Italy are mainly culture, cuisine, history, fashion, architecture, art, religious sites and routes, wedding tourism, naturalistic beauties, nightlife, underwater sites and spas.{{cite web|url=https://www.ansa.it/canale_viaggiart/it/notizie/speciali/2023/02/01/turismo-wedding-2-milioni-presenze-e-fatturato-599-mln_dcec4ad9-3ab8-4677-a303-6378020ac3a7.html|title=In Italia 11mila matrimoni stranieri, un turismo da 599 milioni|date=February 2023|access-date=2 February 2023|language=it|archive-date=2 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230202073931/https://www.ansa.it/canale_viaggiart/it/notizie/speciali/2023/02/01/turismo-wedding-2-milioni-presenze-e-fatturato-599-mln_dcec4ad9-3ab8-4677-a303-6378020ac3a7.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.travel365.it/migliori-destinazioni-italiane-per-vita-notturna.htm|title=10 Migliori destinazioni italiane per vita notturna|access-date=28 December 2021|language=it|archive-date=9 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230109172951/https://www.travel365.it/migliori-destinazioni-italiane-per-vita-notturna.htm|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.paesionline.it/articoli/turismo-naturalistico-definizione-e-dove-praticarlo-in-italia|title=Turismo naturalistico: cos'è e dove praticarlo in Italia|access-date=5 May 2022|language=it|archive-date=9 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230109172952/https://www.paesionline.it/articoli/turismo-naturalistico-definizione-e-dove-praticarlo-in-italia|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.studiare-in-italia.it/php5/study-italy.php?idorizz=6&idvert=84|title=Viaggiare in Italia: giro turistico|access-date=31 December 2021|language=it|archive-date=21 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220921204815/https://www.studiare-in-italia.it/php5/study-italy.php?idorizz=6&idvert=84|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.ilsole24ore.com/art/il-benessere-genera-53percento-pil-mondiale-e-italia-e-boom-spa-e-turismo-wellness-AEeHWMLG|title=Il benessere genera il 5,3% del Pil mondiale: e in Italia è boom per Spa e turismo "wellness"|date=11 October 2018|access-date=8 January 2022|language=it|archive-date=9 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230109172950/https://www.ilsole24ore.com/art/il-benessere-genera-53percento-pil-mondiale-e-italia-e-boom-spa-e-turismo-wellness-AEeHWMLG|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.adnkronos.com/turismo-religioso-in-italia-3-milioni-di-pellegrini-lanno-e-8-6-milioni-di-presenze_4xRvus8qO3yR7wEXF8bhrF#:~:text=Turismo-,Turismo%20religioso%2C%20in%20Italia%203%20milioni%20di%20pellegrini%20l'anno,8%2C6%20milioni%20di%20presenze&text=Dai%20cammini%20ai%20santuari%2C%20dalle,vacanze%20all'insegna%20della%20spiritualit%C3%A0.|title=Turismo religioso, in Italia 3 milioni di pellegrini l'anno e 8,6 milioni di presenze|date=24 July 2021|access-date=5 May 2022|language=it|archive-date=9 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230109172951/https://www.adnkronos.com/turismo-religioso-in-italia-3-milioni-di-pellegrini-lanno-e-8-6-milioni-di-presenze_4xRvus8qO3yR7wEXF8bhrF#:~:text=Turismo-,Turismo%20religioso%2C%20in%20Italia%203%20milioni%20di%20pellegrini%20l'anno,8%2C6%20milioni%20di%20presenze&text=Dai%20cammini%20ai%20santuari%2C%20dalle,vacanze%20all'insegna%20della%20spiritualit%C3%A0.|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.viaggiarenews.com/2021/03/il-meglio-per-il-turismo-subacqueo-in-italia/|title=Il meglio per il turismo subacqueo in Italia|date=27 March 2021|access-date=19 January 2022|language=it|archive-date=9 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230109172954/https://www.viaggiarenews.com/2021/03/il-meglio-per-il-turismo-subacqueo-in-italia/|url-status=live}} Winter and summer tourism are present in many locations in the Alps and the Apennines,{{cite web|url=https://www.alloggitaly.it/vacanze-in-montagna-in-italia/|title=VACANZE IN MONTAGNA IN ITALIA: IN INVERNO E IN ESTATE|date=30 July 2017|access-date=1 January 2022|language=it|archive-date=6 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221006081936/https://www.alloggitaly.it/vacanze-in-montagna-in-italia/|url-status=live}} while seaside tourism is widespread in coastal locations on the Mediterranean Sea.{{cite web|url=https://www.turismo-oggi.com/il-turismo-balneare.html|title=Il turismo balneare|date=14 February 2018|access-date=1 January 2022|language=it|archive-date=1 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001012217/https://www.turismo-oggi.com/il-turismo-balneare.html|url-status=live}} Italy is the leading cruise tourism destination in the Mediterranean Sea.{{cite web|url=https://www.lagenziadiviaggi.it/crociere-cemar-88-milioni-di-passeggeri-nei-porti-italiani/|title=Crociere, Cemar: 8,8 milioni di passeggeri nei porti italiani|date=27 April 2022|access-date=13 May 2022|language=it|archive-date=28 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220628205742/https://www.lagenziadiviaggi.it/crociere-cemar-88-milioni-di-passeggeri-nei-porti-italiani/|url-status=live}} Small, historical and artistic Italian villages are promoted through the association I Borghi più belli d'Italia (literally "The Most Beautiful Villages of Italy").

The origins of modern banking can be traced to medieval and early Renaissance Italy, to the rich cities like Florence, Lucca, Siena, Venice and Genoa. The Bardi and Peruzzi families dominated banking in 14th-century Florence, establishing branches in many other parts of Europe.{{cite book|title=Banking Through the Ages |url=https://archive.org/details/bankingthroughag00hogg |last=Hoggson|first=Noble F.|author-link=Noble Foster Hoggson|year=1926|page=[https://archive.org/details/bankingthroughag00hogg/page/76 76]|publisher=Dodd, Mead and Company |location=New York City | access-date= 11 February 2015}} One of the most famous Italian banks was the Medici Bank, set up by Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici in 1397.{{cite book|title=Banks, Palaces, and Entrepreneurs in Renaissance Florence |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s4CQAAAAIAAJ |last=Goldthwaite|first=Richard A.|year=1995|publisher=Ashgate Publishing |location=Aldershot | isbn=978-0-860-78484-5 | access-date= 11 February 2015}} The earliest known state deposit bank, the Bank of Saint George, was founded in 1407 in Genoa,{{cite book|title=Issues in Money and Banking |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k1OYMZ8OzMUC&pg=PA42 |last=Macesich |first=George |year=2000 |page= 42 | publisher= Greenwood Publishing Group | location= Westport | isbn= 978-0-275-96777-2 | access-date= 12 March 2009}} while Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, founded in 1472, is the world's oldest or second oldest bank in continuous operation, depending on the definition, and the third-largest Italian commercial and retail bank.{{cite news|title=Italy's fourth-biggest bank returns to the stockmarket|url=https://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21730672-shares-bailed-out-bank-start-trading-again-italys-fourth-biggest-bank|newspaper=The Economist|date=26 October 2017|access-date=9 May 2022|archive-date=15 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180215112321/https://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21730672-shares-bailed-out-bank-start-trading-again-italys-fourth-biggest-bank|url-status=live}} Today, among the financial services companies, UniCredit is one of the largest banks in Europe by capitalization and Assicurazioni Generali is second largest insurance group in the world by revenue after AXA.

File:Palazzo Salimbeni, Siena, Headquarters of Monte dei Paschi di Siena, the worlds oldest surviving bank.jpg, founded in 1472, is the world's oldest or second oldest bank in continuous operation.]]

File:Unicredit Tower 2014.jpg bank in Milan]]

The following is a list of the main Italian banks and insurance groups ranked by total assets and gross premiums written.

{{updated|31 December 2013}}{{needs update|date=September 2024}}

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{{Main|Energy in Italy|Renewable energy in Italy}}

File:Pannelli solari Unicoop Tirreno.JPG. Italy is one of the world's largest producers of renewable energy.{{cite web|title=Il rapporto Comuni Rinnovabili 2015|url=http://www.comunirinnovabili.it/il-rapporto-comuni-rinnovabili-2015/|website=Comuni Rinnovabili|date=18 May 2015|publisher=Legambiente|access-date=13 March 2016|language=it}}]]

Italy consumed about 185 Mtoe of primary energy in 2010.BP data [http://www.bp.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130606071637/http://www.bp.com/|date=6 June 2013}} This came mostly from fossil fuels. Among the most used resources are petroleum (mostly used for the transport sector), natural gas (used for electric energy production and heating), coal and renewables. Electricity is produced mainly from natural gas, which accounts for the source of more than half of the total final electric energy produced. Another important source is hydroelectric power, which was practically the only source of electricity until 1960.

Eni, with operations in 79 countries, is considered one of the seven "Supermajor" oil companies in the world, and one of the world's largest industrial companies.{{cite web |url=https://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=E |title=Summary for Eni SpA |access-date=1 July 2020 |archive-date=4 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160604184217/http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=e |url-status=live }} The Val d'Agri area, Basilicata, hosts the largest onshore hydrocarbon field in Europe.{{cite web |url=https://www.eni.com/en-IT/operations/italy-val-agri-upstream-activities.html |title=In Val d'Agri with Upstream activities |publisher=Eni |access-date=3 February 2021 |archive-date=16 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220516034214/https://www.eni.com/en-IT/operations/italy-val-agri-upstream-activities.html |url-status=dead }} Moderate natural gas reserves, mainly in the Po Valley and offshore Adriatic Sea, have been discovered in recent years and constitute the country's most important mineral resource.

File:Natural resources of Italy.png, Fe – iron ore, Hg — mercury, PM – polymetallic ores (Cu, Zn, Ag, Pb), PY — pyrite). Fossil fuels are in red (C – coal, G – natural gas, L — lignite, P – petroleum). Non-metallic minerals are in green (ASB — asbestos, F — fluorite, K — potash, MAR — marble, S — sulfur).]]

Most raw materials needed for manufacturing and more than 80% of the country's energy sources are imported (99.7% of the solid fuels demand, 92.5% of oil, 91.2% of natural gas and 13% of electricity).{{cite book|url=http://bookshop.europa.eu/it/energy-transport-and-environment-indicators-pbKSDK08001/|title=Energy, transport and environment indicators|year=2008|author=Eurostat|author-link=Eurostat|publisher=EU Bookshop|format=PDF|isbn=978-92-79-09835-2|access-date=10 May 2009}}{{cite book|url=http://bookshop.europa.eu/it/panorama-of-energy-pbKSGH09001/|title=Panorama of Energy|year=2009|author=Eurostat|author-link=Eurostat|publisher=EU Bookshop|format=PDF|isbn=978-92-79-11151-8|access-date=10 May 2009}} Due to its reliance on imports, Italians pay approximately 45% more than the EU average for electricity.{{cite web |url=http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/Country-Profiles/Others/Emerging-Nuclear-Energy-Countries/ |title=Emerging Nuclear Energy Countries |date=December 2014 |publisher=World Nuclear Association |access-date=11 February 2015 |archive-date=26 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160126093825/http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/Country-Profiles/Others/Emerging-Nuclear-Energy-Countries/ |url-status=dead }}

In the last decade, Italy has become one of the world's largest producers of renewable energy, ranking as the second largest producer in the European Union and the ninth in the world. Wind power, hydroelectricity, and geothermal power are also important sources of electricity in the country. Italy was the first country to exploit geothermal energy to produce electricity.{{cite web |title=Inventario delle risorse geotermiche nazionali |publisher=UNMIG |date=2011 |url=http://unmig.sviluppoeconomico.gov.it/unmig/geotermia/inventario/inventario.asp |access-date=14 September 2011|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722034736/http://unmig.sviluppoeconomico.gov.it/unmig/geotermia/inventario/inventario.asp |archive-date=22 July 2011}} The first Italian geothermal power plant was built in Tuscany, which is where all currently active geothermal plants in Italy are located. In 2014 the geothermal production was 5.92 TWh.{{Cite web |url=http://www.terna.it/default/home_en/electric_system/statistical_data.aspx |title=TERNA statistics data |access-date=21 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120518165820/http://www.terna.it/default/home_en/electric_system/statistical_data.aspx |archive-date=18 May 2012 |url-status=dead }}

Solar energy production alone accounted for almost 9% of the total electric production in the country in 2014, making Italy the country with the highest contribution from solar energy in the world. The Montalto di Castro Photovoltaic Power Station, completed in 2010, is the largest photovoltaic power station in Italy with 85 MW. Other examples of large PV plants in Italy are San Bellino (70.6 MW), Cellino san Marco (42.7 MW) and Sant’ Alberto (34.6 MW).{{Cite web|url=https://www.solarserver.com/solar-magazine/solar-energy-system-of-the-month/the-italian-montalto-di-castro-and-rovigo-pv-plants.html|title=The Italian Montalto di Castro and Rovigo PV plants|website=www.solarserver.com|access-date=8 May 2018|archive-date=9 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180509012719/https://www.solarserver.com/solar-magazine/solar-energy-system-of-the-month/the-italian-montalto-di-castro-and-rovigo-pv-plants.html|url-status=live}} Italy was also the first country to exploit geothermal energy to produce electricity.

Renewable sources account for 27.5% of all electricity produced in Italy, with hydro alone reaching 12.6%, followed by solar at 5.7%, wind at 4.1%, bioenergy at 3.5%, and geothermal at 1.6%.{{cite web |url=http://www.gse.it/it/Statistiche/RapportiStatistici/Pagine/default.aspx |title=Rapporto Statistico sugli Impianti a fonti rinnovabili |date=19 December 2013 |publisher=Gestore dei Servizi Energetici |format=PDF |access-date=11 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171018022905/http://www.gse.it/it/Statistiche/RapportiStatistici/Pagine/default.aspx |archive-date=18 October 2017 |url-status=dead }} The rest of the national demand is covered by fossil fuels (38.2% natural gas, 13% coal, 8.4% oil) and by imports.

Italy has managed four nuclear reactors until the 1980s, but in 1987, after the Chernobyl disaster, a large majority of Italians passed a referendum opting for phasing out nuclear power in Italy. The government responded by closing existing nuclear power plants and stopping work on projects underway, continuing to work to the nuclear energy program abroad. The national power company Enel operates seven nuclear reactors in Spain (through Endesa) and four in Slovakia (through Slovenské elektrárne),{{cite web |url=http://www.enel.com/en-GB/group/production/nuclear_power/ |title=Nuclear Production |date=31 December 2013 |publisher=Enel |access-date=11 February 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150207204805/http://www.enel.com/en-GB/group/production/nuclear_power/ |archive-date=7 February 2015 }} and in 2005 made an agreement with Électricité de France for a nuclear reactor in France. With these agreements, Italy has managed to access nuclear power and direct involvement in design, construction, and operation of the plants without placing reactors on Italian territory.

In the early 1970s Italy was a major producer of pyrites (from the Tuscan Maremma), asbestos (from the Balangero mines), fluorite (found in Sicily), and salt. At the same time, it was self-sufficient in aluminium (from Gargano), sulphur (from Sicily), lead, and zinc (from Sardinia).{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/297474/Italy/26994/Forestry#toc26986|title=Italy, the economy: Resources and power|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica Online|date=3 February 2015|access-date=9 February 2015|archive-date=9 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150209194536/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/297474/Italy/26994/Forestry#toc26986|url-status=live}} By the beginning of the 1990s, however, it had lost all its world-ranking positions and was no longer self-sufficient in those resources. There are no substantial deposits of iron, coal, or oil. Italy is one of the world's leading producers of pumice, pozzolana, and feldspar. Another mineral resource for which Italy is well-known is marble, especially the world-famous white Carrara marble from the Massa and Carrara quarries in Tuscany.

{{Main|Transport in Italy}}

File:A8-A26 Besnate.jpg ("Lakes Motorway"; now parts of the Autostrada A8 and the Autostrada A9) near Besnate, the first motorway built in the world.]]

Regarding the national road network, in 2002 there were {{convert|668721|km|mi|abbr=on}} of serviceable roads in Italy, including {{convert|6487|km|mi|abbr=on}} of motorways, state-owned but privately operated by Atlantia. In 2005, about 34,667,000 passenger cars (590 cars per 1,000 people) and 4,015,000 goods vehicles circulated on the national road network.{{cite web |url=http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_OFFPUB/KS-DA-07-001/EN/KS-DA-07-001-EN.PDF |title=Panorama of Transport |author=European Commission |access-date=3 May 2009|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090407142402/http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_OFFPUB/KS-DA-07-001/EN/KS-DA-07-001-EN.PDF |archive-date=7 April 2009|author-link=European Commission}}

Italy was the first country in the world to build motorways, the so-called autostrade, reserved for fast traffic and for motor vehicles only.{{Cite news|first=Thea|last=Lenarduzzi|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/europe/the-worlds-first-motorway-piero-puricellis-masterpiece-is-the-focus-of-an-unlikely-pilgrimage-a6840816.html|title=The motorway that built Italy: Piero Puricelli's masterpiece|date=30 January 2016|newspaper=The Independent|access-date=12 May 2022|archive-date=26 May 2022|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220526/http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/europe/the-worlds-first-motorway-piero-puricellis-masterpiece-is-the-focus-of-an-unlikely-pilgrimage-a6840816.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.motorwebmuseum.it/en/places/varese/the-milano-laghi-by-piero-puricelli-the-first-motorway-in-the-world/|title=The "Milano-Laghi" by Piero Puricelli, the first motorway in the world|access-date=10 May 2022|archive-date=1 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210901170319/https://www.motorwebmuseum.it/en/places/varese/the-milano-laghi-by-piero-puricelli-the-first-motorway-in-the-world/|url-status=live}} The Autostrada dei Laghi ("Lakes Motorway"), the first built in the world, connecting Milan to Lake Como and Lake Maggiore, and now parts of the A8 and A9 motorways, was devised by Piero Puricelli and was inaugurated in 1924. He received the first authorization to build a public-utility fast road in 1921. By the end of the 1930s, over 400 kilometres of multi- and dual-single-lane motorways were constructed throughout Italy, linking cities and rural towns. Italy is one of the countries with the most vehicles per capita, with 690 per 1000 people in 2010.{{cite news |url=http://wardsauto.com/ar/world_vehicle_population_110815/ |title=World Vehicle Population Tops 1 Billion Units |author=John Sousanis |work=Ward AutoWorld |date=15 August 2011 |access-date=27 August 2011|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110827104934/http://wardsauto.com/ar/world_vehicle_population_110815/ |archive-date=27 August 2011}}

File:Frecciarossa 1000 No' 08.jpg' Frecciarossa 1000 high speed train at Milano Centrale railway station, with a maximum speed of {{convert|400|km/h|0|abbr=on}},{{cite web |title=Frecciarossa 1000 in Figures |url=http://www.fsitaliane.it/fsi-en/GROUP/Safety-and-Technology/Frecciarossa1000:-the-train-of-the-future/Frecciarossa-1000-in-Figures |publisher=Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane |access-date=24 November 2014|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141218192603/http://www.fsitaliane.it/fsi-en/GROUP/Safety-and-Technology/Frecciarossa1000%3A-the-train-of-the-future/Frecciarossa-1000-in-Figures |archive-date=18 December 2014}} is one of the fastest trains in Europe.{{cite web |url=http://www.railway-technology.com/projects/frecciarossa-1000-very-high-speed-train/ |title=Frecciarossa 1000 Very High-Speed Train |website=Railway Technology |access-date=5 May 2016 |archive-date=9 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150809032916/http://www.railway-technology.com/projects/frecciarossa-1000-very-high-speed-train |url-status=live}}{{cite news |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/french-train-breaks-speed-record-1.650346 |title=French Train Breaks Speed Record |website=CBC News |access-date=5 June 2019 |archive-date=5 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805201116/https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/french-train-breaks-speed-record-1.650346 |url-status=live}}]]

The national railway network is also extensive, especially in the north, totalizing 16,862 km of which 69% are electrified and on which 4,937 locomotives and railcars circulate. It is the 12th largest in the world, and is operated by state-owned Ferrovie dello Stato, while the rail tracks and infrastructure are managed by Rete Ferroviaria Italiana. While a number of private railroads exist and provide mostly commuter-type services, the national railway also provides sophisticated high-speed rail service that joins the major cities. The Florence–Rome high-speed railway was the first high-speed line opened in Europe when more than half of it opened in 1977. In 1991 the TAV was created for the planning and construction of high-speed rail lines along Italy's most important and saturated transport routes (Milan-Rome-Naples and Turin-Milan-Venice). High-speed trains include ETR-class trains, with the Frecciarossa 1000 reaching 400 km/h. Higher-speed trains are divided into three categories: Frecciarossa ({{langx|en|red arrow}}) trains operate at a maximum speed of 300 km/h on dedicated high-speed tracks; Frecciargento ({{langx|en|silver arrow}}) trains operate at a maximum speed of 250 km/h on both high-speed and mainline tracks; and Frecciabianca ({{langx|en|white arrow}}) trains operate on high-speed regional lines at a maximum speed of 200 km/h. Italy has 11 rail border crossings over the Alpine mountains with its neighbouring countries.

File:One-belt-one-road.svg with its connections to Italy]]

Since October 2021, Italy's flag carrier airline is ITA Airways, which took over the brand, the IATA ticketing code, and many assets belonging to the former flag carrier Alitalia, after its bankruptcy.{{cite news |last1=Buckley |first1=Julia |title=Italy reveals its new national airline |url=https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/ita-airways-launch/index.html |access-date=18 October 2021 |work=CNN |date=18 October 2021 |language=en |archive-date=18 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211018100255/https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/ita-airways-launch/index.html |url-status=live }} ITA Airways serves 44 destinations ({{as of|October 2021|lc=y}}) and also operates the former Alitalia regional subsidiary, Alitalia CityLiner.{{cite news |last1=Villamizar |first1=Helwing |title=Italian Flag Carrier ITA Airways Is Born |url=https://airwaysmag.com/airlines/ita-airways-is-born/ |access-date=18 October 2021 |work=Airways Magazine |date=15 October 2021 |archive-date=16 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211016100028/https://airwaysmag.com/airlines/ita-airways-is-born/ |url-status=dead }} The country also has regional airlines (such as Air Dolomiti), low-cost carriers, and Charter and leisure carriers (including Neos, Blue Panorama Airlines and Poste Air Cargo). Major Italian cargo operators are Alitalia Cargo and Cargolux Italia. Italy is the fifth in Europe by number of passengers by air transport, with about 148 million passengers or about 10% of the European total in 2011.{{cite web |title=Trasporto aereo in Italia (PDF) |date=7 January 2013 |url=http://www.istat.it/it/archivio/78802 |publisher=ISTAT |access-date=5 August 2013 |archive-date=13 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130113035254/http://www.istat.it/it/archivio/78802 |url-status=live }} There are approximately 130 airports in Italy, of which 99 have paved runways (including the two hubs of Leonardo Da Vinci International in Rome and Malpensa International in Milan).

Italy has been the final destination of the Silk Road for many centuries. In particular, the construction of the Suez Canal intensified sea trade with East Africa and Asia from the 19th century. Since the end of the Cold War and increasing European integration, trade relations, which were often interrupted in the 20th century, have intensified again. In 2004 there were 43 major seaports including the Port of Genoa, the country's largest and the third busiest by cargo tonnage in the Mediterranean Sea. Due to the increasing importance of the maritime Silk Road with its connections to Asia and East Africa, the Italian ports for Central and Eastern Europe have become important in recent years. In addition, the trade in goods is shifting from the European northern ports to the ports of the Mediterranean Sea due to the considerable time savings and environmental protection. In particular, the deep water port of Trieste in the northernmost part of the Mediterranean Sea is the target of Italian, Asian and European investments.Marcus Hernig: Die Renaissance der Seidenstraße (2018) pp 112.Bernhard Simon: Can The New Silk Road Compete With The Maritime Silk Road? in The Maritime Executive, 1 January 2020.Chazizam, M. (2018). The Chinese Maritime Silk Road Initiative: The Role of the Mediterranean. Mediterranean Quarterly, 29(2), 54–69.Guido Santevecchi: Di Maio e la Via della Seta: «Faremo i conti nel 2020», siglato accordo su Trieste in Corriere della Sera: 5. November 2019.Linda Vierecke, Elisabetta Galla "Triest und die neue Seidenstraße" In: Deutsche Welle, 8 December 2020.{{Cite web|url=https://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/hhla-plt-italy-starting-on-schedule/|title=HHLA PLT Italy starting on schedule | Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide|website=www.hellenicshippingnews.com|access-date=11 May 2022|archive-date=11 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111105059/https://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/hhla-plt-italy-starting-on-schedule/|url-status=live}} The national inland waterway network comprises {{convert|1,477|km|mi|abbr=on}} of navigable rivers and channels. In 2007 Italy maintained a civilian air fleet of about 389,000 units and a merchant fleet of 581 ships.{{cite book|url=http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/3217494/5618077/KS-DA-07-001-EN.PDF|title=Panorama of Transport|year=2007|author=Eurostat|author-link=Eurostat|publisher=European Commission|isbn=978-92-79-04618-6|access-date=3 May 2009|archive-date=12 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150212174916/http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/3217494/5618077/KS-DA-07-001-EN.PDF|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Poverty in Italy}}

File:Homeless people @ Piazzale Lodi @ Milan (49623197518).jpg

In 2015, poverty in Italy hit the highest levels in the previous 10 years. The level of absolute poverty for a two-person family was €1050.95/month. The poverty line per capita changed by region from €552.39/month to €819.13/month. The number of those in absolute poverty rose nearly an entire per cent in 2015, from 6.8% in 2014 to 7.6% in 2015.{{cite web|title=Poverty in Italy|url=http://www.istat.it/en/files/2015/07/Poverty-in-Italy_2014.pdf?title=Poverty+in+Italy+-+15+Jul+2015+-+Full+text.pdf|website=National Institute of Statistics|access-date=1 December 2016|archive-date=25 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325014701/http://www.istat.it/en/files/2015/07/Poverty-in-Italy_2014.pdf?title=Poverty+in+Italy+-+15+Jul+2015+-+Full+text.pdf|url-status=live}} In Southern Italy the numbers are even higher, with 10% living in absolute poverty, up from 9 per cent in 2014. Northern Italy is better off at 6.7%, but this is still an increase from 5.7% in 2014.

The national statistics reporting agency, ISTAT, defines absolute poverty as those who can not buy goods and services which they need to survive. In 2015, the proportion of poor households in relative poverty also increased to 13.7 from 12.9 in 2014. ISTAT defines relative poverty as people whose disposable income is less than around half the national average. The unemployment rate in February 2016 remained at 11.7%, which has been the same for almost a year, but even having a job does not guarantee freedom from poverty.{{cite web|title=Unemployment by sex and age – monthly average|url=http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=une_rt_m&lang=en|website=eurostat.ec|publisher=eurostat|access-date=2 December 2016|archive-date=9 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190809181818/https://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=une_rt_m&lang=en|url-status=live}}

Those who have at least one family member employed still suffer from 6.1% to 11.7% poverty, the higher number being for those who have factory jobs. The numbers are even higher for the younger generations because their unemployment rate is over 40%. Also, children are hit hard. In 2014, 32% of those aged 0–17 were at risk of poverty or social exclusion, which is one child out of three. While in the north the poverty rate is about the same as that of France and Germany, in the south it is almost double that figure. In the last ISTAT report, poverty is in decline.{{cite web|title=Italy: tackling child poverty and overcoming the crisis – European Platform for Investing in Children (EPIC) – European Union|url=http://europa.eu/epic/countries/italy/index_en.htm|website=europa.eu|publisher=Europa|access-date=2 December 2016|archive-date=18 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160618033933/http://europa.eu/epic/countries/italy/index_en.htm|url-status=live}}{{Update inline|date=December 2023|reason=Not updated since 2016}} According to the 2022 ISTAT Poverty Report, 2.18 million households and 5.6 million people live in absolute poverty in Italy.{{cite web|url=https://www.istat.it/it/files//2023/10/REPORT-POVERTA-2022.pdf|title=Increasing absolute poverty due to inflation|language=it|access-date=27 October 2023|archive-date=25 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231025114741/https://www.istat.it/it/files//2023/10/REPORT-POVERTA-2022.pdf|url-status=live}}

According to Eurostat, by 2023, 63% of Italian households will struggle to make ends meet, making it one of the European countries with the most widespread economic difficulties, surpassing France, Poland, Spain and Portugal. The European average is 45.5%.{{cite web|url=https://www-ansa-it.translate.goog/sito/notizie/economia/2023/10/21/oltre-63-delle-famiglie-italiane-fatica-ad-arrivare-a-fine-mese_fea729ab-2939-4094-98e1-c8dc4017b406.html?_x_tr_sl=it&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=it&_x_tr_pto=wapp|title=Oltre il 63% delle famiglie italiane fatica ad arrivare a fine mese|date=October 21, 2023|language=it|trans-title=Over 63% of Italian families struggle to make ends meet. Eurostat, the European average is 45.5%|access-date=27 October 2023|archive-date=27 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231027065156/https://www-ansa-it.translate.goog/sito/notizie/economia/2023/10/21/oltre-63-delle-famiglie-italiane-fatica-ad-arrivare-a-fine-mese_fea729ab-2939-4094-98e1-c8dc4017b406.html?_x_tr_sl=it&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=it&_x_tr_pto=wapp|url-status=live}}

The average annual gross salary in Italy was €41,646 ($44,893) in 2022,{{Cite web |last=Redazione |date=2024-05-10 |title=Stipendio medio Italia: ultimi dati 2024, lordo e netto |url=https://www.partitaiva.it/stipendio-medio-italia/ |access-date=2024-05-14 |website=Partitaiva.it |language=it-IT}} - Note: This 2024 secondary source cites another source which cites OECD data from 2022, not 2024 placing the country at the twenty-first position in the OECD area, with lower wages compared to the EU average. Many Italians still face significant challenges in meeting basic living expenses due to high living costs and regional economic disparities.

{{portal|Economy|Italy}}

• Economic history of Italy
• Economic impacts of climate change in Italy
• Economy of fascist Italy
• Economy of Europe
• Il sorpasso (economics)
• Macroeconomic data in EMU
• PIGS (economics)

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Commons category}}

• [http://www.istat.it/en/ Italian National Institute of Statistic (ISTAT)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190820161259/http://www4.istat.it/en |date=20 August 2019 }}
• [http://www.oecd.org/italy/ Italy – OECD] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190818072705/http://www.oecd.org/italy/ |date=18 August 2019 }}
• [http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/italy Italy profile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190625201920/https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/italy |date=25 June 2019 }} at The World Bank
• [http://milanshoesmicam.com The leading international footwear exhibition (MICAM)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190902100316/http://www.milanshoesmicam.com/ |date=2 September 2019 }}
• [https://bizpages.org/countries--IT--Italy Italian Business Facts] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413073157/https://bizpages.org/countries--IT--Italy |date=13 April 2021 }}

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