The SVIMEZ association estimates Italy's GDP growth of +0.9% in 2023, decelerating from +4% in 2002, but still above the EU average (+0.4%). Output dynamics were heterogeneous across macro-areas and Italian regions. In 2023, the GDP growth of southern regions was higher than that of other macro-areas: +1.3% versus +1% in the Northwest, +0.9% in the Northeast and +0.4% in the Center. The South had not grown more than the rest of the country since 2015 (+1.4% vs. +0.6% in the North-Center). Equally favorable to the South was the employment dynamic. Employment in the South increased +2.6% year-on-year, more than in the other macro-areas and compared to a national average of +1.8%. The different sectoral composition of growth explains the differentials in GDP changes observed at the territorial level in 2023. The more pronounced growth in southern GDP was mainly supported by construction (+4.5%, almost one percentage point higher than the North-Center average), compared with a smaller contraction in the industrial sector (-0.5%) and 1.8% growth in services.
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