Economic Activity in Italy
Economic Activity in Italy
Located in Southern Europe, Italy is a peninsula that extends into the central Mediterranean Sea, northeast of Tunisia.
Italy’s industrial economy is diversified, divided into the industrially developed North that is dominated by privately held companies, and a less-developed South, that is welfare-dependent and more agriculturally orientated, with high unemployment.
The Italian economy is largely driven by the manufacturing of higher quality goods that are produced by small to medium-sized organisations - many of them family owned. In 2010 figures shown that 24.99 million Italians were in employment. Italy also has what’s called an underground economy, estimated to account for as much as 15% of the country’s GDP. These activities are commonly seen within the construction, service, and construction sectors. The implementation of needed structural changes has been slow in Italy, things such as overhauling costly entitlement programs, and increasing employment opportunities for young workers and women. The international economic crisis made conditions worse in the labour market, which saw unemployment figures rise from 6.2% in 2007 to 8.4% in 2010. In the long term, low fertility rates and immigration policies that are quota-driven will increasingly strain Italy’s economy. A rise in exports and investment following the economic recovery helped the economy grow by approximately 1% during 2010, which followed a contraction of about 5% during 2009. The Italian government has struggled to put a cap on their spending, and Italy's high public debt is still exceeding 115% of GDP, with the fiscal deficit being just 1.5% of GDP during 2007 – this grew and exceeded 5% throughout 2009 and 4% in 2010, as the costs of maintaining the national debt increased.
Italy’s purchasing power parity (PPP) was estimated at $1.774 trillion in 2010 and its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at $2.055 trillion. Compared to 2009, this was down by 5.2%. The country’s
Located in Southern Europe, Italy is a peninsula that extends into the central Mediterranean Sea, northeast of Tunisia.
Italy’s industrial economy is diversified, divided into the industrially developed North that is dominated by privately held companies, and a less-developed South, that is welfare-dependent and more agriculturally orientated, with high unemployment.
The Italian economy is largely driven by the manufacturing of higher quality goods that are produced by small to medium-sized organisations - many of them family owned. In 2010 figures shown that 24.99 million Italians were in employment. Italy also has what’s called an underground economy, estimated to account for as much as 15% of the country’s GDP. These activities are commonly seen within the construction, service, and construction sectors. The implementation of needed structural changes has been slow in Italy, things such as overhauling costly entitlement programs, and increasing employment opportunities for young workers and women. The international economic crisis made conditions worse in the labour market, which saw unemployment figures rise from 6.2% in 2007 to 8.4% in 2010. In the long term, low fertility rates and immigration policies that are quota-driven will increasingly strain Italy’s economy. A rise in exports and investment following the economic recovery helped the economy grow by approximately 1% during 2010, which followed a contraction of about 5% during 2009. The Italian government has struggled to put a cap on their spending, and Italy's high public debt is still exceeding 115% of GDP, with the fiscal deficit being just 1.5% of GDP during 2007 – this grew and exceeded 5% throughout 2009 and 4% in 2010, as the costs of maintaining the national debt increased.
Italy’s purchasing power parity (PPP) was estimated at $1.774 trillion in 2010 and its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at $2.055 trillion. Compared to 2009, this was down by 5.2%. The country’s