Italy was hit particularly hard by the late-2000s recession. Annual growth rates have often been below the EU average. ĭespite these important achievements, the country's economy today suffers from structural and non-structural problems. Italy has a strong cooperative sector, with the largest share of the population (4.5%) employed by a cooperative in the EU.
The Italian manufacturing sector is capable of facing the competition from China and other emerging Asian economies based on lower labour costs, with higher quality products. Italy is the largest hub for luxury goods in Europe and the third luxury hub globally. The country is also well known for its influential and innovative business economic sector, an industrious and competitive agricultural sector (Italy is the world's largest wine producer), and manufacturers of creatively designed, high-quality products: including automobiles, ships, home appliances, and designer clothing. Italy has therefore a significant trade surplus. Its products include machinery, vehicles, pharmaceuticals, furniture, food and clothing. Italy is a large manufacturer and exporter of a significant variety of products. Italy is the world's sixth-largest manufacturing country, characterised by a smaller number of global multinational corporations than other economies of comparable size and many dynamic small and medium-sized enterprises, notoriously clustered in several industrial districts, which are the backbone of the Italian industry.
In terms of private wealth, Italy ranks second, after Hong Kong, in private wealth to GDP ratio. Furthermore, the advanced country private wealth is one of the largest in the world. Italy owns the world's third-largest gold reserve, and is the third-largest net contributor to the budget of the European Union. According to The Economist, Italy has the world's 8th highest quality of life. According to the Human Development Index, the country enjoys a very high standard of living. In the post-World War II period, Italy saw a transformation from an agricultural based economy which had been severely affected by the consequences of the World Wars, into one of the world's most advanced nations, and a leading country in world trade and exports. The largest trading partners, in order of market share in exports, are Germany (12.5%), France (10.3%), the United States (9%), Spain (5.2%), the United Kingdom (5.2%) and Switzerland (4.6%).
Its closest trade ties are with the other countries of the European Union, with whom it conducts about 59% of its total trade. Italy is a founding member of the European Union, the Eurozone, the OECD, the G7 and the G20 it is the tenth-largest exporter in the world, with $632 billion exported in 2019. It is the third-largest national economy in the European Union, the eighth-largest in the world by nominal GDP, and the 12th-largest by GDP (PPP). The economy of Italy is a highly developed market economy. All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars.