Economy - overview Since World War II, the Italian economy has changed from one based on agriculture into a ranking industrial economy, with approximately the same total and per capita output as France and the UK. This basically capitalistic economy is still divided into a developed industrial north, dominated by private companies, and a less developed agricultural south, with large public enterprises and more than 20% unemployment. Most raw materials needed by industry and over 75% of energy requirements must be imported. In the second half of 1992, Rome became unsettled by the prospect of not qualifying to participate in EU plans for economic and monetary union later in the decade; thus, it finally began to address its huge fiscal imbalances. Subsequently, the government has adopted fairly stringent budgets, abandoned its inflationary wage indexation system, and started to scale back its generous social welfare programs, including pension and health care benefits. In November 1996 the lire rejoined the European monetary system, which it had left in September 1992 when under extreme pressure in currency markets. Italy faces the problem of restructuring its economy to meet Maastricht criteria for inclusion in the EMU, together with other problems of refurbishing a tottering communications system, curbing industrial pollution, and adjusting to new EU and global competitive forces.

GDP purchasing power parity - $1.24 trillion (1997 est.)

GDP - real growth rate 1.5% (1997 est.)

GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $21,500 (1997 est.)

GDP - composition by sector
agriculture: 3.3%
industry: 33%
services: 63.7% (1994)

Inflation rate - consumer price index 1.9% (1997 est.)

Labor force
total: 22.851 million
by occupation: services 61%, industry 32%, agriculture 7% (1996)

Unemployment rate 12.2% (December 1997 est.)

Budget
revenues: $416 billion
expenditures: $506 billion, including capital expenditures of $47 billion (1996 est.)

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

Industrial production growth rate 0.5% (1996 est.)

Electricity - capacity 57.186 million kW (1995)

Electricity - production 225.179 billion kWh (1995)

Electricity - consumption per capita 4,509 kWh (1995)

Agriculture - products fruits, vegetables, grapes, potatoes, sugar beets, soybeans, grain, olives; meat and dairy products; fish catch of 525,000 metric tons in 1990

Exports
total value: $250.8 billion (f.o.b., 1996)
commodities: metals, textiles and clothing, production machinery, motor vehicles, transportation equipment, chemicals
partners: EU 53.4%, US 7.8%, OPEC 3.8%

Imports
total value: $190 billion (c.i.f., 1996)
commodities: industrial machinery, chemicals, transport equipment, petroleum, metals, food, agricultural products
partners: EU 45.5%, OPEC 4.8%, US 4.3%

Debt - external $45 billion (1996 est.)

Economic aid
donor: ODA, $3.043 billion (1993)

Currency 1 Italian lira (Lit) = 100 centesimi

Exchange rates Italian lire (Lit) per US$1 - 1,787.7 (January 1998), 1,703.1 (1997), 1,542.9 (1996), 1,628.9 (1995), 1,612.4 (1994), 1,573.7 (1993)

Fiscal year calendar year

NOTE: The information regarding Italy on this page is re-published from the 1998 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Italy Economy 1998 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Italy Economy 1998 should be addressed to the CIA.