Italy
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Italy Country Report: GDP data and GDP forecasts; economic, financial and trade information; the best banks in Italy; country and population overview

alt DATA ON GDP AND ECONOMIC INFORMATION
Central bank alt

Bank of Italy

Italy is part of the Eurosystem and the European Central Bank
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold alt $142.105 billion (Source: IMF; Data updated: November 2009)
Gross Domestic Product - GDP alt 2,293,008 millions of US dollars (2008)
GDP (Purchasing Power Parity) alt 1,840,902 millions of International dollars (2008)
Real GDP growth alt
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
1.8% 0.5% 0.0% 1.5% 0.7% 2.0% 1.5% -1.3%

2009: -5.0% (estimate)    

2010: 0.8% (forecast)

 
GDP per capita - current prices alt $35,231 (2010 estimate)
GDP per capita - PPP alt $29,347 International Dollars (2010 estimate)
GDP (PPP) - share of world total alt 2.44% (2010 estimate)
GDP - composition by sector alt
  • agriculture: 2%
  • industry: 26.7%
  • services: 71.3% (2008 estimate)
Gross domestic expenditure on R&D (% of GDP) alt 1.10% (2005)
Inflation alt

3.5% (2008)

0.8% (2009)

1.4(2008)% (2010 forecast)
Unemployment rate alt 6.8% (2008)
7.8% (2009)
8.7% (2010 forecast)(2009)
Household saving rates alt 8.7% (2006)
Public debt (General government gross debt as a % of GDP) alt

2007: 113.24%

2010: 120.1% (forecast)
Government bond ratings alt

Standard & Poor's: A+/Stable/A-1+

Moody's rating: Aa2

Moody's outlook: STA

(Foreign Currency Government Bond Ratings; Data last updated Nov 2009)
Market value of publicly traded shares alt US$1.073 trillion (31 December 2007)
Largest companies in Italy alt ENI (Oil & Gas Operations), UniCredit Group (Banking), ENEL (Utilities), Intesa Sanpaolo (Banking), Generali Group (Insurance), Telecom Italia (Telecommunications Services), Banca MPS (Banking), Finmeccanica (Aerospace & Defense), Fiat Group (Consumer Durables)
(2010)
alt DATA ON TRADE AND COMPETITIVENESS
Current account balance alt US$ -59.25 billion (2010 forecast)(After 2008)
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Current account balance by percentage of GDP alt -2.8% of GDP (2010 forecast)(After 2008)
Shares in world total merchandising export alt 3.52% (2007)(2007)
Shares in world total commercial services export alt 3.36% (2007)(2007)
Total exports alt US$566.1 billion f.o.b. (2008 estimate)
Export commodities alt engineering products, textiles and clothing, production machinery, motor vehicles, transport equipment, chemicals; food, beverages
Total imports alt US$566.8 billion f.o.b. (2008 estimate)
Import commodities alt engineering products, chemicals, transport equipment, energy products, minerals and nonferrous metals, textiles and clothing; food
Exports - major partners alt Germany 12.9%, France 11.4%, Spain 7.4%, US 6.8%, UK 5.8% (2007)
Imports - major partners alt Germany 16.9%, France 9%, China 5.9%, Netherlands 5.5%, Belgium 4.3%, Spain 4.2% (2007)
FDI inflows alt
2007 2008
US$40,202 million(2009) US$17,032 million(2009)
FDI outflows alt
2007 2008  
US$90,775 million(2009) US$43,839 million(2009)  
Value of cross-border M&A, by country of purchaser alt
2007 2008 2009 (Jan-Jun)
US$60,150 million US$20,101 million(2009) US$17,612 million(2009)
Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2007

(Acquiring company, Acquired company, Country of the acquired company, Value of the deal)

 alt

Investor Group, Endesa SA, Spain, $26.4 billion
Enel SpA, Endesa SA, Spain, $6.3 billion
EniNeftegaz, Gazprom Neft, Russian Federation, $5.8 billion
ENI SpA, Dominion Resources Inc, United States, $4.8 billion
Weather Investments Srl, TIM Hellas Telecommunications SA, Greece, $4.4 billion

(for a monthly update on M&A click here )
Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2008

(Acquiring company, Acquired company, Country of the acquired company, Value of the deal)

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Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA, Banca Antonveneta SpA, Italy, $13.2 billion
Finmeccanica SpA, DRS Technologies Inc, United States, $5.1 billion
Assicurazioni Generali SpA, Prvni Privatizacni Fond AS, Czech Republic, $4.9 billion
(2008 estimate)

(for a monthly update on M&A click here )

Best countries for doing business

(ranking by country on a basis of 181, the first is the best)

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Overall ranking: 78(2009) (2009)

Subcategories:

Starting a business: 75(2009)

Employing workers: 99

Registering property: 98

Getting credit: 87

Protecting investors: 57

Trading across border: 50

(2009)
Global competitiveness ranking
(ranking by country on a basis of 133, the first is the best)		 alt 48 (2009/2010)
Economic freedom index alt

61.4 (2009)

(100=totally free 0=totally repressed )
alt COUNTRY AND POPULATION OVERVIEW
Time zone alt UTC+1
Total area alt 301,318 km2 (2006)
Capital alt Rome (2009)
Currency alt euros (EUR) (2009)
Government type alt republic (2009)
Languages alt Italian (official), German (parts of Trentino-Alto Adige region are predominantly German speaking), French (small French-speaking minority in Valle d'Aosta region), Slovene (Slovene-speaking minority in the Trieste-Gorizia area)
Religions alt Roman Catholic 90% (approximately; about one-third practicing), other 10% (includes mature Protestant and Jewish communities and a growing Muslim immigrant community)
Total population alt 59.09 million (2009 forecast)
Urban population as % of total population alt 68% (2006)
Population median age alt 42.0 years (2006)
Population growth rate alt 0.20% (2006)
Life expectancy alt 81 years (2007)
Adult literacy alt 99% (2000/2007)
% of population living on less than $2 a day alt -
Inequality of wealth distribution (Gini index) alt

36 (2000)

(0=perfect equality, 100=absolute inequality)
Freedom House rating alt

Political Rights: 1
Civil Liberties: 2 (2009)

(1 represents the most free, 7 the least free)
Total telephone subscribers as % of population alt

181.39% (2007)

(sum of fixed telephone lines and mobile cellular subscribers)
Internet users as % of total population alt 41.93% (data refer to 2008 and were released in 2009)
Cost of living - Mercer index

(ranking by city on a basis of 143; the 1st is the most expensive and the 143rd is the least expensive; New York is the base city)

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New York - Index: 100 (Base)

Milan: 11th - Index: 96.9
Rome: 18th - Index: 91.2 (2009)
CO2 emissions alt

7.6908 (2004)

(metric tons of CO2 per capita)
alt GLOBAL FINANCE RANKINGS AND AWARDS

WORLD'S BEST FOREIGN EXCHANGE BANKS

2010:
  • COUNTRY WINNERS UniCredit (National, 2010)
2009:
  • COUNTRY WINNERS UniCredit (National, 2009)
  • REGIONAL WINNERS UniCredit (Central and Eastern Europe, 2009)
2008:
  • REGIONAL WINNERS UniCredit (Central and Eastern Europe, 2008)
  • COUNTRY WINNERS UniCredit (National, 2008)

WORLD'S BEST TREASURY & CASH MANAGEMENT BANKS & PROVIDERS

2010:
  • Best Overall Bank for Cash Management UniCredit (CEE, 2010)
  • Best Bank for Liquidity Management UniCredit (CEE, 2010)
  • Best Bank for Payments and Collections UniCredit (CEE, 2010)
2009:
  • Best Bank for Payments and Collections UniCredit Group (CEE, 2009)
2008:
  • Best Bank for Risk Management UniCredit (Western Europe, 2008)
  • Best Bank for Payments and Collections UniCredit (CEE, 2008)

WORLD'S BEST TRADE FINANCE PROVIDERS

2010:
  • REGIONAL WINNERS UniCredit (Central and Eastern Europe, 2010)
  • COUNTRY WINNERS Intesa Sanpaolo (National, 2010)
2009:
  • REGIONAL WINNERS UniCredit (Central and Eastern Europe, 2009)
  • COUNTRY WINNERS Intesa Sanpaolo (National, 2009)
2008:
  • REGIONAL WINNERS UniCredit (CEE, 2008)
  • COUNTRY WINNERS Intesa Sanpaolo (National, 2008)

WORLD'S BEST DEVELOPED MARKET BANKS

2010:
  • Intesa Sanpaolo (National, 2010)
2009:
  • Intesa Sanpaolo (Europe, 2009)
2008:
  • UniCredit (National, 2008)

WORLD'S BEST SUPPLY CHAIN FINANCE PROVIDERS

2010:
  • REGIONAL WINNERS UniCredit (Central & Eastern Europe, 2010)

WORLD'S MID YEAR SAFEST BANKS RANKINGS

(ranking of the 50 safest banks in the world; the first is the safest)
2009:
  • Intesa Sanpaolo (29, 2009)

WORLD'S BEST INTERNET BANKS

2009:
  • COUNTRY WINNERS / Best Corporate/Institutional Internet Banks Citi (2009)
2008:
  • COUNTRY WINNERS / Best Corporate/Institutional Internet Banks Citi (2008)

WORLD'S BEST SUB CUSTODIANS

2010:
  • REGIONAL WINNERS UniCredit (Central and Eastern Europe, 2010)
  • COUNTRY WINNERS Intesa Sanpaolo (National, 2010)
2009:
  • COUNTRY WINNERS Intesa Sanpaolo (National, 2009)
2008:
  • REGIONAL WINNERS UniCredit (C & E Europe, 2008)
  • COUNTRY WINNERS Intesa Sanpaolo (National, 2008)

WORLD'S BEST INVESTMENT BANKS

2010:
  • COUNTRY WINNERS Mediobanca (National, 2010)
2009:
  • COUNTRY WINNERS Mediobanca (National, 2009)
2008:
  • COUNTRY WINNERS Mediobanca (National, 2008)
alt ARTICLES AND COUNTRIES REPORTS FROM GLOBAL FINANCE ARCHIVE