Benefits: competitive and very creative middle class. Specifies the fashion world in the field of design and manufacture of products, clothing and household appliances. The leading companies include Fiat automotive industry , Montedison plastics , Olivetti communication , Benetton clothing. Highly productive agriculture and manufacturing products for tourists, well-known fashion houses. Weaknesses: the government deficit and increasing debt are still high.
Small growth of the economy, an inefficient service sector, which is heavily privatized. Unequal distribution of wealth between the rich North and poor South, where unemployment is 3 times higher.
Lack of fiscal discipline, improving in recent years. Relatively small, oriented to international competition of the enterprise. Strong dependence on energy imports. Italy - a highly developed industrial-agrarian country. Mainly an industrial and highly developed North and the poor, agrarian South. Gross national product per capita dollars a year.
Key industries: machine building, metallurgy, chemical and petrochemical, light and food industries. Italy is among the largest manufacturers and suppliers to the world market of cars, bicycles and mopeds, tractors, washing machines and refrigerators, typewriters and adding machines, electronic products, industrial equipment, steel pipes, plastics and fibers, tires and clothing and leather shoes, pasta, cheese, olive oil, wine, fruit and tomato preserves.
Large-scale production of cement, natural essences and essential oils from flowers and fruits, art products made of glass and pottery, jewelry. Extraction of pyrites, mercury ore, natural gas, potassium salt, dolomite, asbestos.
