Portal:Business/Selected economy/February 2009

The economy of Italy has changed dramatically since the end of World War II. From an agriculturally based economy, it has developed into an industrial country ranked by both the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund as the world's seventh largest economy in USD exchange-rate terms and tenth largest in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP) by World Bank, IMF and the CIA World Factbook. More recently, Italy has faced sluggish economic growth and reduced international competitiveness. However, statistics as of 2007 show signs of acceleration in GDP growth, estimated at 2% in 2006, a record high since 2000.

The country belongs to the Group of eight (G8) industrialized nations; it is a member of the European Union and the OECD.

Italy's economic strength is in the processing and the manufacturing of goods, primarily in small and medium-sized family-owned firms. The country has been less successful in terms of developing world class multinational corporations. In addition, the small and medium-sized firms typically manufacture products that are technologically moderately advanced and therefore increasingly face crushing international competition...