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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

DATA ON GDP AND ECONOMIC INFORMATION
Central bank Bank of Italy (2009)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold $104 billion (31 December 2008 estimate)
Gross Domestic Product - GDP 2,293,008 millions of US dollars (2009)
GDP (Purchasing Power Parity) 1,840,902 millions of International dollars (2009)
Real GDP growth
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
1.8% 0.5% 0.0% 1.5% 0.7% 2.0% 1.6% -1.0%

2009: -5.1% (estimate)    

2010: 0.2% (forecast)

GDP per capita - current prices $34,955 (2009 estimate)
GDP per capita - PPP $29,290 International Dollars (2009 estimate)
GDP (PPP) - share of world total 2.464% (2010 forecast)
GDP - composition by sector
  • agriculture: 2%
  • industry: 26.7%
  • services: 71.3% (2008 estimate)
Gross domestic expenditure on R&D (% of GDP) 1.10% (2005)
Inflation

3.5% (2008)

0.8% (2009)
Unemployment rate 6.8% (2008)
9.1% (2009 estimate)
10.5% (2010 forecast)
Household saving rates 8.7% (2006)
Public debt (% of GDP) 113.24% (2008)
Government bond ratings

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 US$1.073 trillion (31 December 2007)
Largest companies in Italy ENI, Intesa Sanpaolo, ENEL, UniCredit Group, Generali Group (2009)
FT top 50 banks in the world by market value 2009
  • Intesa SanPaolo
  • UniCredit
DATA ON TRADE AND COMPETITIVENESS
Current account balance US$ -66.671 billion (2008)
Shares in world total merchandising export 3.52% (2007)
Shares in world total commercial services export 3.36% (2007)
Total exports US$566.1 billion f.o.b. (2008 estimate)
Export commodities engineering products, textiles and clothing, production machinery, motor vehicles, transport equipment, chemicals; food, beverages
Total imports US$566.8 billion f.o.b. (2008 estimate)
Import commodities engineering products, chemicals, transport equipment, energy products, minerals and nonferrous metals, textiles and clothing; food
Exports - major partners Germany 12.9%, France 11.4%, Spain 7.4%, US 6.8%, UK 5.8% (2007)
Imports - major partners Germany 16.9%, France 9%, China 5.9%, Netherlands 5.5%, Belgium 4.3%, Spain 4.2% (2007)
FDI inflows
2007 2008
US$40.202 million US$17.032 million
FDI outflows
2007 2008
US$90.775 million US$43.839 million(2009)
Value of cross-border M&A, by country of purchaser
2007 2008 2009 (Jan-Jun)
US$60.150 million(2009) 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)

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
(2009)

(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)

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
(2009) (2009)

(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)

Overall ranking: 78(2009) (2009)

Subcategories:

Starting a business: 75

Employing workers: 99(2009)

Registering property: 98(2009)

Getting credit: 87

Protecting investors: 57(2008 estimate)

Trading across border: 50(2009)

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

61.4 (2009)

(100=totally free 0=totally repressed )
COUNTRY AND POPULATION OVERVIEW
Time zone UTC+1
Total area 301,318 km2 (2006)
Capital Rome (2009)
Currency euros (EUR) (2009)
Government type republic (2009)
Languages 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 Roman Catholic 90% (approximately; about one-third practicing), other 10% (includes mature Protestant and Jewish communities and a growing Muslim immigrant community)
Total population 59.09 million (2009 forecast)
Urban population as % of total population 68% (2006)
Population median age 42.0 years (2006)
Population growth rate 0.20% (2006)
Life expectancy 81 years (2007)
Adult literacy 99% (2000/2007)
% of population living on less than $2 a day -
Inequality of wealth distribution (Gini index)

36 (2000)

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

Political Rights: 1
Civil Liberties: 2 (2009)

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

181.39% (2007)

(sum of fixed telephone lines and mobile cellular subscribers)
Internet users as % of total population 54.35% (2007)
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)

New York - Index: 100 (Base)

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

7.6908 (2004)

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

WORLD'S BEST FOREIGN EXCHANGE BANKS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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