Sources: 1. ITA elaborations on ISTAT data, 2. Fondazione Edison on data from the WTO and UNCTAD/WTO Nation Brands Ranking; 4. Farminustria; 5. Blumine on data UN-Comtrade  

With a GDP of over € 1,7 tn and a population of over 60 mn, Italy is the world’s 9th largest economy. Italy is one of only five countries in the world whose manufactured products have an export trade surplus (over € 47 mln).

Italy’s control over public finance has been among the most solid in the Eurozone in the last 7 years. Since 2012 the deficit has been consistently below the 3% ceiling, and Italy had the highest primary surplus on average (1,1%) during the 2009-2016 period.

Italy is the 9th largest exporter in the world, selling goods for around € 448 bn (2,9% of worldwide market share in October 2017) and maintaining one of the few export trade surpluses for goods (€ 47,8 bn in 2017) among developed countries. In the first half of 2018 exports contributed to GDP by over 31%.

Italy is the 2nd largest manufacturer in Europe and the 5th top manufacturer in the world. Also, Italy is the 1st European producer of pharmaceutical goods. 

Furthermore, the country presents a hourly labor cost below the Eurozone average (source: Eurostat, 2017). Last year, in fact, excluding agriculture and public administration, it has slightly exceeded 28 euros, while the Eurozone average was 30.3 euros. Particularly, there is a significant gap with hourly labor cost in Germany (34.1 euros) and France (36 euros).