Italy’s Economy Slowing Down More Than Expected: GDP -0.4%

Italy’s GDP statistics for the second quarter of 2023 have been released, and it’s worse than expected. The figure, published by the Italian statistical agency ISTAT, was actually down 0.4% from the previous quarter. Meanwhile, compared to the same period in 2022, Italian GDP grew by 0.4%. A low value compared to forecasts, according to which the maximum decline should have not exceeded 0.3%, while a possible increase could reach 0.6%. It should be noted that in the second quarter of 2023, there were three working days less than in January through March, and one less than in the same period of 2022. ISTAT also revised downward the change for 2023, which fell slightly to +0.7% from the previous estimate of +0.8%.
According to the National Institute of Statistics, “the decline in GDP was driven primarily by domestic demand (including reserves), while foreign demand turned out virtually zero. As for domestic demand, private consumption was also at zero, while government spending and investment showed negative values. At the same time, the status of reserves ensured an increase of 0.3 percentage points.”