Main Results
After seven consecutive years of decline, in 2015 GDP returned to growth in the South (1.1 per cent) at a slightly higher rate than in the North (0.8); growth in the Centre was more contained (0.3).
Certain events affected the 2015 results: the contribution to growth from household consumption being more pronounced than that from exports; the gains experienced by tourist destinations in the South from the political turmoil in the southern coast of the Mediterranean; good agricultural production, which carries more weight in the South than the national average; the boost in public investment expenditure arising from the need to complete the numerous programmes undertaken with European Cohesion Policy funding allocated for the period 2007-2013.
In 2016, the slight upward trend is confirmed in all areas of the country. According to Istat’s labour force survey, in the first three quarters of 2016 the number of employees grew in all the macro-areas compared to the same period in 2015, with a higher rate of growth in the North and a slower rate in the Centre; employment growth in the South was in line with that of 2015.
The recovery in 2015 did not change the divide between the South and the rest of the country: firms in the South continued to be characterized by worse structural conditions in terms of their average size, capital, labour productivity, and the institutional and socio-economic contexts in which they operate. In 2015, disposable income per capita in the South was about 63 per cent of that in the North and 71 per cent of that in the Centre; similar gaps remain in terms of wealth. During the crisis the number of people in absolute poverty grew across the board. In 2015, the incidence was 10 per cent in the South, 6.7 per cent in the North and 5.6 per cent in the Centre (in 2007 it was 3.8 per cent in the South, 2.6 per cent in the North and 2.8 per cent in the Centre).
Our estimates of the territorial distribution of public accounts, updated in this volume through 2014, show that the burden of the 2011-13 national recovery was supported by the South as well as the Centre and North of Italy.
Since 2008, a downsizing of the network of bank branches has been underway. This process has affected all areas of the country, slightly more so in the South. The decline in the number of branches has been associated with a significant increase in types of e-contact between banks and their customers. Remote banking services are more widespread in the Centre and North. Nevertheless, regional differences have narrowed in recent years.
