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Industry Productivity in Italy

Italy's economic structure is similar to most other European countries. The services sector accounts for two-thirds (69%) of the GDP, its strong points being trade and tourism.

A full 29% of national income comes from industry and the remaining 2% from agriculture. The strongest industrial sectors are machinery, clothing and textiles, the former exporting over EUR 52 billion in machinery,equal to approximately 25% of total Italian exports; in the sector of clothing and textiles, exports surpass EUR 25 billion (approx. 10% of Italian exports).

Peculiar to the Italian productive system are its "industrial districts", which are contained in circumscribed areas and comprise a tightly woven fabric of numerous small and medium-sized enterprises, each specialised in a particular sector of the production chain.

In percentage terms, there are 10% more smaller-sized companies in Italy than in Germany, almost 20% more than in France and 25% more than in England.
Thanks to this model, Italy is one of the countries where entrepreneurial initiative has seen the most extensive development, and entrepreneurial autonomy has allowed creativity and the pursuit of beautiful and tasteful finished products to flourish, making the "Made in Italy" label famous the world over.

This development model has historic roots and its local manufacturing traditions date back to the Late Middle Ages.
Thanks to its structure Italian industry has managed to be rapid and flexible enough to respond to the various economic crises that have hit world markets over the years.
This is an industrial system that will have to face globalisation in this new millennium, and which will finally be forced to open up to direct investments in foreign markets and not limit itself solely to exportation of the finished product.

Nevertheless, the Italian economy does not consist of small companies alone.
There are a number of large groups, both public and private, that have shaped the country's industrial history.
In the energy sector, ENI , of which the State still hold, a quota of around 30%, is the group that deals most with foreign countries; ENEL, also in the energy sector, is one of the largest electricity providers on the continent; present soon also abroad are Telecom Italia, Italy's largest totally-privatised company; among private enterprises, FIAT (auto) and Pirelli (tyres) motorised the country in the years of the economic boom.

Important also are Generali (insurance), Finmeccanica and Merloni (electric home appliances) and, in the food sector, Barilla e Ferrero . Among the most famous Italian names abroad is Benetton.
As regards employment figures, the rate of unemployment continues to fall, aided by government policies aimed at improving the job market. The number of people working has risen, though it remains much lower than the European average.

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