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Economy—overview: Since World War II, the Italian economy has changed from one based on agriculture into a ranking industrial economy, with approximately the same total and per capita output as France and the UK. This basically capitalistic economy is still divided into a developed industrial north, dominated by private companies, and a less developed agricultural south, with large public enterprises and more than 20% unemployment. Most raw materials needed by industry and over 75% of energy requirements must be imported. In the second half of 1992, Rome became unsettled by the prospect of not qualifying to participate in EU plans for economic and monetary union later in the decade; thus, it finally began to address its huge fiscal imbalances. Subsequently, the government has adopted fairly stringent budgets, abandoned its inflationary wage indexation system, and started to scale back its generous social welfare programs, including pension and health care benefits. In December 1998, Italy adopted a budget compliant with the requirements of the European Monetary Union (EMU); representatives of government, labor, and employers agreed to an update of the 1993 "social pact," which has been widely credited with having brought Italy's inflation into conformity with EMU requirements. In 1999, Italy must adjust to the loss of an independent monetary policy, which it has used quite liberally in the past to help cope with external shocks. Italy also must work to stimulate employment, promote wage flexibility, and tackle the informal economy.
GDP: purchasing power parity—$1.181 trillion (1998 est.)
GDP—real growth rate: 1.5% (1998 est.)
GDP—per capita: purchasing power parity—$20,800 (1998 est.)
GDP—composition by sector:
agriculture: 3.3%
industry: 33%
services: 63.7% (1994)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.9%
highest 10%: 23.7% (1991)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1.8% (1998 est.)
Labor force: 23.193 million
Labor force—by occupation: services 61%, industry 32%, agriculture 7% (1996)
Unemployment rate: 12.5% (1998 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $559 billion
expenditures: $589 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1998
est.)
Industries: tourism, machinery, iron and steel, chemicals, food processing, textiles, motor vehicles, clothing, footwear, ceramics
Industrial production growth rate: 0.5% (1996 est.)
Electricity—production: 226.707 billion kWh (1996)
Electricity—production by source:
fossil fuel: 80.02%
hydro: 18.25%
nuclear: 0%
other: 1.73%
Electricity—consumption: 264.007 billion kWh (1996)
Electricity—exports: 800 million kWh (1996)
Electricity—imports: 38.1 billion kWh (1996)
Agriculture—products: fruits, vegetables, grapes, potatoes, sugar beets, soybeans, grain, olives; beef, dairy products; fish
Exports: $243 billion (f.o.b., 1998)
Exports—commodities: engineering products, textiles and clothing, production machinery, motor vehicles, transport equipment, chemicals; food, beverages and tobacco; minerals and nonferrous metals
Exports—partners: Germany 16.4%, France 12.2%, US 7.9%, UK 7.1%, Spain 5.2%, Netherlands 2.8% (1997)
Imports: $202 billion (f.o.b., 1998)
Imports—commodities: engineering products, chemicals, transport equipment, energy products, minerals and nonferrous metals, textiles and clothing; food, beverages and tobacco
Imports—partners: Germany 18.0%, France 13.2%, UK 6.7%, Netherlands 6.2%, US 5.0%, Belgium-Luxembourg 4.7% (1997)
Debt—external: $45 billion (1996 est.)
Economic aid—donor: ODA, $1.6 billion (1995)
Currency: 1 Italian lira (Lit) = 100 centesimi
Exchange rates: Italian lire (Lit) per US$1—1,688.7 (January
1999), 1,736.2 (1998), 1,703.1 (1997), 1,542.9 (1996), 1,628.9 (1995),
1,612.4 (1994)
note: on 1 January 1999, the European Union introduced a common currency
that is now being used by financial institutions in some member countries
at the rate of 0.8597 euros per US$ and a fixed rate of 1,936.27 lire per
euro; the euro will replace the local currency in consenting countries
for all transactions in 2002
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications
Telephones: 25.6 million (1996 est.)
Telephone system: modern, well-developed, fast; fully automated
telephone, telex, and data services
domestic: high-capacity cable and microwave radio relay trunks
international: satellite earth stations—3 Intelsat (with a total of
5 antennas—3 for Atlantic Ocean and 2 for Indian Ocean), 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic
Ocean region), and NA Eutelsat; 21 submarine cables
Radio broadcast stations: AM 135, FM 28 (repeaters 1,840), shortwave 0
Radios: 45.7 million (1996 est.)
Television broadcast stations: 6,317 (consisting of 117 public stations with two kW of power or more, about 5,300 low-power public stations, and about 900 low-power private stations, mostly in local service) (1997)
Televisions: 17 million (1996 est.)
Transportation
Railways:
total: 19,272 km
standard gauge: 17,983 km 1.435-m gauge; Italian Railways (FS) operates
15,942 km of the total standard gauge routes (10,889 km electrified)
narrow gauge: 112 km 1.000-m gauge (112 km electrified); 1,177 km 0.950-m
gauge (19 km electrified) (1996)
Highways:
total: 317,000 km
paved: 317,000 km (including 9,500 km of expressways)
unpaved: 0 km (1996 est.)
Waterways: 2,400 km for various types of commercial traffic, although of limited overall value
Pipelines: crude oil 1,703 km; petroleum products 2,148 km; natural gas 19,400 km
Ports and harbors: Augusta (Sicily), Bagnoli, Bari, Brindisi, Gela, Genoa, La Spezia, Livorno, Milazzo, Naples, Porto Foxi, Porto Torres (Sardinia), Salerno, Savona, Taranto, Trieste, Venice
Merchant marine:
total: 393 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 5,982,870 GRT/8,413,850
DWT
ships by type: bulk 38, cargo 46, chemical tanker 60, combination ore/oil
2, container 16, liquefied gas tanker 35, livestock carrier 1, multifunction
large-load carrier 1, oil tanker 84, passenger 6, roll-on/roll-off cargo
53, short-sea passenger 28, specialized tanker 12, vehicle carrier 11 (1998
est.)
Airports: 136 (1998 est.)
Airports—with paved runways:
total: 97
over 3,047 m: 5
2,438 to 3,047 m: 33
1,524 to 2,437 m: 17
914 to 1,523 m: 30
under 914 m: 12 (1998 est.)
Airports—with unpaved runways:
total: 39
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2
914 to 1,523 m: 19
under 914 m: 18 (1998 est.)
Heliports: 2 (1998 est.)
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Última actualització: 8 de juny de 2000