Italy’s bursting economy

The economy of Italy has changed significantly after the Second World War from being an agriculture-based country into an industrial one. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund has ranked Italy as the sixth largest economy in the world. The World Bank ranked the country as ninth and the IMF as tenth largest economy in terms of its purchasing power parity. It is the fourth largest economy in Europe after Germany, UK, and France.

Italy is also one of the Group of Eight, or the G8, industrialized nations and is also a member of the European Union and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development or OECD.

It is also considered as the world’s fourth major tourist destinations with more than 37 million tourists visiting the country each year.

The Economy of Italy is still diverse. The highly developed northern part of the country has a capitalistic and industrial economy that contributes a great deal to the country’s total productivity and profitability. However, the southern regions of Italy are less developed than the north. Agriculture in the south is still very extensive with wine, fruits, durum wheat, vegetables, and olive oil as the major products and exports.

Italy’s major industries are tourism, precision machinery, iron and steel, textiles, chemicals, ceramics, food processing, electric goods, pharmaceuticals, electric goods, motor vehicles, clothing, footwear, and ceramics. The country is more famous in the fields of food and clothing, especially with its finest wines and designer clothes.

Based on the 2002 data, Italy’s closest trade ties are with the other European Union countries, with whom the country conducts about 54.4% of its total trade. Italy’s largest trade partners in the EU are Germany, France, and the United Kingdom (5.9%).

Italy’s currency is the Euro.