Italy could take economic growth lessons from Spain, stats bureau says

Italy's economy will grow by less than 1% this year for ​a fourth year running, national statistics bureau ISTAT said on ​Thursday, suggesting ways the country could learn from Spain's ‌far ​more successful performance.

Following a post-COVID 19 rebound, Italy saw growth of just 2.3% in three years from 2023-2025, roughly a quarter of the 9% expansion recorded by Spain in the same period, ISTAT said ‌in its annual report. The statistics bureau drew a stark comparison between the immigration and investment policies in the euro zone's third-largest economy, and the more effective ones adopted in Spain, which is fast closing the gap as the fourth-largest.

Among the factors holding back Italy's growth are a long-standing demographic crisis and ‌a short-sighted approach to investment, not sufficiently focused on technology, ISTAT said. ITALY LABOUR MARKET PARTICIPATION LOWEST IN EU

In Italy last year a ‌third of people aged 15–64 were neither working nor looking for work, the highest rate in the European Union. Italy's 66.7% of people actively engaged in the labour market, known as the "participation rate", compared with an EU average of 75.7%.

Although Italy's labour market participation has increased in recent years, "even if it were to remain at 2025 levels, the decline in the ⁠population alone ​would mean that by 2050 the number ⁠of people in work aged between 15 and 64 would fall by more than five million people," ISTAT researcher Cristina Freguja said in presenting the report. To counter the effects ⁠of population decline, it is necessary to significantly increase participation rates in the labour market, the report suggested, a path that Spain has embarked upon by focusing ​on immigration.

In 2022-2025 the Italian population aged between 15 and 64 rose just 1.6%, versus 4.6% growth in Spain, where expansion ⁠was driven by a 22.3% rise of foreign residents. They increased by only 4.6% in Italy. ITALY INVESTING IN THE WRONG THINGS

The better performance of the Spanish economy also reflects its greater ⁠focus ​on more technologically advanced sectors, particularly in services, the report said. Last year Spain recorded a 16.1% growth of investment compared to 2022, versus a 10.4% rise in Italy.

Most importantly, Spain saw strong growth in investments related to intellectual property, up 23.7%. That compared with a 7.8% increase ⁠in Italy, where investment was heavily concentrated in the construction sector (+14.7%), which has a smaller impact on long-term productivity.

In Italy, investment in technology ⁠accounted for 19% of total investment ⁠last year, below the EU average, ISTAT statistician Stefano Menghinello said. Moreover, Rome last year ranked fourth from the bottom in the 27-nation bloc in terms of people employed in scientific and technological professions, accounting for less than ‌a third of the ‌workforce, compared with an EU average of 38.3%.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)