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On the side of the customers

The socio-economic context in Italy

Inflation still high, recovery flat, consumer and business confidence mixed

In a European context which saw annual inflation stand at 2.7% (Source: Eurostat), the average annual growth in consumer prices in Italy was 5.7%, still high despite a reduction compared to 2022.

In this scenario, Italy addressed a period of moderate economic growth in step with the Euro Area. GDP recorded a rise of 0.7% that was slower than in 2022 (+3.7%) also due to the closure of the credit market and the weakness of international trade, despite the effects of the implementation of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (Source: Bank of Italy).

The climate of confidence showed changes depending on whether it applied to consumers or businesses: for the former there was an increase – Istat recorded an increase for the first time since July – whereas it had been on the decline for businesses since August, albeit in a more moderate way (-0.5 p.p.)

Employment on an upward trend but the North-South gap and the gender gap still persist

The year 2023 ended with a growth in the employment rate, reaching 61.5%, with an increase of 483,000 (up by 2.2% in one year) and with a total of 23,580,000 people currently employed; the unemployment rate, however, fell to 7.7% (-0.4%), falling to 1,947,000 with a drop of 81,000. From a regional point of view, the gap is still significant: in the North the employment rate (69.4%) is 21 points higher than that of the South (48.2%), whereas the unemployment rate in the regions of the South (14.0%) is more than triple that of the North (4.6%). The female employment rate recorded a slight increase compared to men (+1.4% versus +1.2%), accompanied by a sharper reduction in the unemployment rate (-0.6% for women and -0.3% for men). However, the negative gap for women remains significant, with a differential of around 18 points in both employment and inactivity rates in the 15-64 age group, and 2 points in the unemployment rate.