Not yet
recovered from the long militant history in Sicily, we arrived in Italy. Again
we enjoyed the wonderful sceneries and the cosy atmosphere of the little
Italian streets. It looks and feels very relaxing and enchanting but there is
also a factual economic truth to be told. In this fifth blog, we will give you some facts and figures about the Italian
economy.
·
They
are member of the European Union.
·
Their
currency is the euro.
·
The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) amounts to 1.2
milliard euros.
·
The
labour force consists of 24.86
million people, while there are 58.148.000 inhabitants.
·
5%
works in the primary sector (agriculture), 32% in the secondary sector
(industry) and the majority (63%) works in the tertiary sector (services).
·
They
have an unemployment figure of 8.4
%, which is rather low.
·
Italy
is the fifth economy of the G8 (the
richest countries in the world).
·
They
are the sixth exporter of the world
and the second of Europe.
·
Italy has the fourth gold reserve of the world.
·
There
is a huge difference between North and
South Italy with regard to economy and welfare.
After some
general facts, a little piece of history
now. The country was rather late with their industrialization. Before the
second world war it was mostly an agricultural land. The fifties and sixties
are known for the ‘Italian Economic
Miracle’ or ‘boom economico’. There was a strong economic growth which lead
to the development of Italy. Nowadays it’s a modern industrial nation instead
of underdeveloped agrarian country.
Small and medium-size companies are the motor of the Italian
economy. There are a number of specialised shops. Next to this, the industry is concentrated in the
North. More specific in ‘the gold
triangle’ of Milan-Turin-Genoa. They are an important export partner of Germany, France, the United States and the United
Kingdom. They mainly export textile,
clothes, metals, machines and chemical products. Don’t forget they are the
biggest exporter of wine in the world. Cheers!
Also tourism is an
important source of revenues. So, in fact, they should be kind of glad we are
here!
Ciao!
Sources:
A lot of companies there in Italy, nice to visit some of them. So we could create an image of their way of doing business.
BeantwoordenVerwijderenWhat is striking, many people work in the tertiary sector. it's a pity, there are less agricultural landscapes than before. A farmer told me there aren't many people who want to work in the agriculture sector because it's hard work.
BeantwoordenVerwijderen