Italy's gross domestic product increased by 0.8% in volume terms in 2015, taking the economy back to growth after three years of GDP falls, Istat said on Tuesday. The national statistics agency had previously said in a preliminary estimate in February based on quarterly data that Italy's GDP had risen by 0.7% last year. In September, in the update statement for the government's economic blueprint, the economic and financial document (DEF), the executive had forecast a growth rate of 0.9% for last year.
Italy's deficit-to-GDP ratio was 2.6% in 2015, down from 3% the previous year, national statistics agency Istat said on Tuesday on the basis of provisional estimates.
The deficit-to-GDP ratio was in line with estimates contained in last year's economic and financial blueprint and stood at the lowest level since 2007, before the start of the economic crisis, Istat added. The primary surplus (excluding the interest paid to service the national debt) fell to 1.5%, the lowest level since 2011, the agency said.
Italy's unemployment rate was steady at 11.5% in January, basically the same as in December and largely unchanged since August, according to provisional data released by Istat on Tuesday.
The national statistics agency added that the unemployment rate was 0.7 of a percentage point down on the same month last year. It said 2.951 million people were unemployed in January, stable with respect to December and 169,000 fewer than January 2015.
However, Italy's unemployment rate for 15-to-24-year-olds who are actively on the labour market rose to 39.3% in January, the highest level since October, Istat said. The number of people in employed with permanent, open-ended contracts rose by 99,000 in January with respect to December and was up 426,000 compared to the same month last year, according to provisional Istat data.
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