Bankitalia: the South leads the economic recovery

The post-pandemic recovery has affected all Italian regions, albeit to varying degrees. The Northern regions have benefited most from this recovery, while those in Central Italy have seen less significant growth. However, it is in Southern Italy that growth has been more significant than the national average, a trend that had not occurred in the periods following previous crises.

Economic growth in 2023 accelerated especially in the South and the Islands. This phenomenon was driven by an expansion in the construction and tertiary sectors, accompanied by a smaller contraction in the industrial sector and an increase in exports. The quarterly indicator of the regional economy, elaborated by the Bank of Italy, highlights how in the first half of 2024 GDP grew slightly more in the southern regions.

Employment also followed this trend, with a stronger expansion in the South both in 2023 and in the first six months of the following year. However, inflation, although declining since the beginning of the year, affected household disposable income, limiting consumption especially in the Center and South.

Across the country, a significant decline in credit to the productive sector has led to a contraction in bank lending to the non-financial private sector since the third quarter of last year.

Verified Source