The branches of the Bank of Italy conducted the interviews for the 17th sample survey from 22 September to 14 October this year. The sample consists of 3,874 firms with at least 20 employees, of which 2,795 industrial firms excluding construction and 1,079 non-financial private service firms.
Main results
Firms in industry (excluding construction) and services
- compared with the investment plans drawn up at the end of last year, three out of ten firms expect to spend less in 2009 as a whole, only one expects to spend more. For 2010 the percentage of firms expecting a decline in investment is 6 percentage points higher than that of firms expecting an increase
- nearly one third of firms reported a tightening of credit conditions (compared with 36 per cent at the beginning of the year. In addition, the majority of firms gave customers more time to pay
- the assessments indicating a reduction in average employment level in 2009 outnumber those pointing to an increase (36 per cent against 16 per cent). Firms estimate that the number of employees fell by 1.6 per cent in the first nine months of the year and will fall by a further 0.8 per cent in the last quarter
- just under half of industrial firms applied to use Wage Supplementation in 2009
- 29 per cent of firms expect to make a loss in 2009, compared with 17 per cent in last year’s survey.
Construction firms
- more than half reported a fall in the value of production in 2009 compared with 2008. Although less pessimistic, expectations for 2010 remain negative.
