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Italy's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) amounted to 2.2 trillion euros in 2024. The Italian economy grew at low rates between 2010 and 2019 and significantly shrank in 2020 following the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy. However, since 2021, GDP has recorded a steady uprise, with remarkably higher growth rates compared to the pre-pandemic period.

A difficult outlook for the Italian economy

Besides the positive performance recorded right after the COVID-19 pandemic, projections indicate a different outlook. The slow growth of the Italian economy, less than one percent each year from 2025 to 2029, is believed to remove Italy from the giants of the global players. Indeed, by 2028, the ranking of the world's largest economies might appear quite different from the present one. In addition to slow growth, Italy's economy is characterized by large internal disparities. After 160 years of national unity, the country is still very divided, as data on unemployment, GDP, and poverty confirm.

National debt: Italy's most difficult challenge

Italy still ranks among the top 20 largest economies in the world. However, the large amount of the national debt risks hampering future growth. In 2024, it reached 135 percent of the GDP, equivalent to 3.2 trillion U.S. dollars, and forecasts expect figures to increase over the coming years. By 2029, the debt-to-GDP ratio may hit 137 percent. A large amount of national debt significantly limits the government's possibility to earmark resources for public investments. In fact, a considerable share of the state budget is devoted to reimbursing the debt.