Following an impressive decline in the first half of 2020, the Italian economy rebounded over the summer. Value added rose strongly in construction and manufacturing, while the recovery in the services sector was less substantial. Favourable indications also come from house prices invalidating the darkest scenario depicted at the beginning of the pandemic. To contain the second wave of infections, the Italian Government has taken restrictive measures, with negative effects on activity. The economy is expected to decline in Q4 again. This contraction should be less significant than in the first half of the year, with only a moderate impact on 2020 growth, while the carry- over in 2021 should be more sizeable.
The marked improvement in the barometer shows that the rebound in economic activity was encouraging up to mid-October, before the epidemic picked up speed again. As in other countries, the pick-up in activity was concentrated in the industrial sector. The manufacturing PMI reached 53.8 in October (its highest level since March 2018), driven by a marked improvement in the new export orders component (+4.5 points to 55.8). Conversely, the services sector PMI fell by 2.1 points to 46.7...
While Italy's real GDP fell by 12.8% q/q in the second quarter of 2020 (after -5.5% in the first quarter), the non-performing loan (NPL) ratios of sectors of activity that have been subject to administrative closures, in particular, continued to decrease. Surprising as it may seem, this development can be explained. On the one hand, public guarantees on new loans have contributed to increase the outstanding amount of "healthy" loans to these sectors[1], diluting NPL ratios. On the other hand, sales of NPLs continued in 2020 (albeit at a slower pace than in 2019), which reduced the outstanding amount of NPLs and contributed to the cleaning up of bank balance sheets
After keeping the epidemic at bay for most of the summer, Italy is now facing a strong resurgence in the number of Covid-19 cases. Last Tuesday (October 13), the government decided to tighten health restrictions, including the closure of restaurants, cafes, and nightclubs at midnight...
In Q2 2020, real GDP fell by 12.8%, dropping down to values recorded in the 1990s. A weakened domestic demand was the main driver of the recession, with households reducing their expenditure and investment falling by 15%. The contraction became widespread. The real estate sector sent mixed messages: in Q1 2020 prices went up while transactions experienced a sharp decline. Latest data have signaled a rebound of the economy, even if the scenario remains uncertain. The strength of the recovery will depend on the behaviour of businesses and households, which will in turn be affected by the evolution of the pandemic. In the real estate sector, both prices and transactions should experience a sharp decline by the end of the year. Transactions should only partially recover in 2022.
The economic recovery has been stronger in the industrial sector than in services, the former benefitting from a sharp rebound in consumer goods spending, particularly durables. Moreover, the impact of health measures on industrial activity is lower than for services...
Italian economic activity started to recover in May, in line with the easing in lockdown restrictions. Our barometer should therefore steadily improved over the summer, although it remains downbeat. Real retail sales rose 25.4% m/m in May, but the 3-month moving average continued to decline, hitting a new all-time low. Industrial production followed a similar trend. The improvement in the survey data was also mixed in June. The composite purchasing managers index (PMI) rose strongly (+13.7 points), but it remains in contraction territory. The European Commission’s economic sentiment indicator (for Italy) continues to hover near the lows reported during the 2008-09 financial crisis...
The outbreak of Covid-19 took hold in Italy earlier than in other EU countries, with strong negative effects on the economy. In Q1 2020, real GDP fell by 5.3%. The contraction affected all economic sectors: manufacturing, services and construction. Domestic demand had a negative contribution (-5.5%). Italian households become extremely cautious, reducing expenditures more than income: the propensity to save rose to 12.5%. The pandemic has dramatically hit the labor market: disadvantaged categories, such as low skills workers, those with precarious contracts and young people, are the most severely affected by the lockdown.
Industrial output and retail sales both plunged in April – by 19.1% and 10.5%, respectively on a month-on-month basis. Furthermore, the latest labour market figures show a misleadingly decline in the unemployment rate of 6.3% in April. Indeed, this was due to a record contraction in the labour force; employment also fell sharply...
The outbreak of Covid-19 hit Italy while the economy was already contracting. The exceptional growth of infected people has brought the Italian Government to take harsh measures, that include stopping all economic activities, excluding those considered as necessary, and imposing a quarantine for the entire population. The combination of an induced supply and demand shocks is going to cause a recession, which is expected to be deep and to last at least until June. In 2020 as a whole, despite the strong support coming from fiscal and monetary policy, the Italian economy should decline by some percentage points.
Following the example of the ECB for the significant institutions[1], the Bank of Italy has decided to recommend to banks under its direct supervision (the less significant institutions) not to distribute or commit distributing dividends at least until 1 October 2020[2]. Moreover, share buy-backs will have to be restricted and less significant institutions in Italy will have to adopt "prudent and farsighted" variable-remuneration policies. The five largest Italian banking groups, which account for almost half of the total assets of the domestic banking system, are thus likely to mobilize (in addition to the benefits that were not intended to be distributed) EUR 4.8 billion of additional common equity Tier 1 in 2019[3], representing 4.1% of its current outstanding amount (EUR 116
Italy continues to record a cycle of subdued activity, with the annual growth rate of real GDP slightly above zero, as a result of the feeble growth in services, the modest recovery in construction and the persisting contraction in the industrial sector. From Q1 2018 to Q3 2019, manufacturing production has fallen by more than 3%, with the strongest declines in the sector of means of transport, in that of metal products and in that of textile, clothes and leather items. Together with the short term slow down, Italy is going to face long term challenges due to the ageing population and its impact on the labour force and the pension spending.
The new Government has approved the update of the economic and financial document, planning to raise the deficit to 2.2% of GDP in 2020. The 2020 Budget Law is estimated to amount to EUR 30 bn. Some measures contained in the budget, such as the cut of the fiscal wedge, are expected to sustain the economy with a positive effect on growth, despite an increasing uncertainty. In Q2, GDP increased by 0.1 y/y, as stocks negatively contributed to the overall growth, while exports continued to rise. Domestic demand suffered from the mixed evolution of labour market and the further delay of the full recovery of the housing market.
Since the mid-1990s the Italian economy has seen a significant economic uncoupling, which has worsened since the 2008 financial crisis. Its difficulties include a level of productivity that is one of the lowest in the advanced economies, a demographic decline and a relatively inefficient labour market, which still excludes too many young people. Structural reforms were introduced under the government of Mario Monti, from 2011 on, bringing a recovery in fiscal and trade accounts, but it remains to be seen what the current government will now do.
In Q1 2019, Italy came out of recession. The overall scenario remained mixed. The GDP annual growth rate was negative. Imports strongly declined and exports slightly increased, with a positive contribution of net exports. Both households and firms remained cautious, postponing consumption and investment. Cyclical indicators suggest a disappointing evolution in coming months, making more challenging the fulfilment of public finance objectives. The Italian Government approved an update of the 2019 Budget, with the public deficit around 2% of GDP, reaching an agreement with the European Commission and avoiding the disciplinary procedure.
The Italian economy entered the third recession in the last ten years. In 2018, value added in the manufacturing sector recorded four consecutive contractions. Domestic demand disappointed, as both households and firms remained extremely cautious. Given the deterioration of the overall scenario, in the 2019 Economic and Financial Document recently approved, the Italian Government has lowered from 1% to 0.2% the GDP growth expected in 2019, with public deficit at 2.4% and the debt to GDP ratio at 132.6%. The structural deficit would worsen by 0.1%, to 1.5%. A progressive ageing of the population makes the scenario even more complicated.
At the end of 2018, Italy and the European Commission agreed on a new 2019 Budget Law, avoiding an Excessive Deficit Procedure. The 2019 public deficit has been lowered to 2% of GDP from 2.4% previously planned, and real GDP growth has been revised downward to 1% from +1.5%. This is still a challenging scenario as overall conditions in the Italian economy worsened in H2 2018. In Q3, GDP fell by 0.1% as investment, both private and public, significantly declined. After the downturn in September, exports in Italy recorded a +9.6% y/y increase in October, while they stagnated in November bringing the value of the sales abroad to 427 billion euros in the first eleven months of the year.
Italy is a parliamentary republic with a Prime Minister and a President. Italy, the third largest economy of the Eurozone, was still recovering from the debt and financial crisis, when the Covid-19 epidemic occurred. Real GDP plunged by 8.9% in 2020, recording one of the biggest contractions in Europe. The Covid-19 crisis is likely to have amplified the structural weaknesses of the Italian economy, which is widely seen as a low-potential growth economy with structural weaknesses. Several restrictions on both labour and production and the huge level of public debt are weighing on productivity, investment and activity growth. An imperfect match of the skills of the working population to market need and low R&D spending also affect growth.
The Italian commercial sector is characterised by family-owned companies that offer particular specialisation, often grouped into industrial districts. However, most Italian firms are small and suffer from weak productivity, which made them particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus crisis. Investment is structurally low and Italy’s integration in global value chains remains limited.