Home ›› 30 Jul 2022 ›› World Biz
Italy’s economy grew 1.0per cent in the second quarter of the year from the previous three months, preliminary data showed on Friday, a stronger-than-expected reading and despite the headwinds created by the war in Ukraine.
On a year-on-year basis, second quarter gross domestic product in the euro zone’s third largest economy rose 4.6per cent, ISTAT said.
Analysts polled by Reuters had predicted a rise of 0.3per cent quarter-on-quarter and 3.7per cent year-on-year.
Friday’s data followed quarterly growth of 0.1per cent in the first three months of the year and a jump of 6.2per cent against the same period a year ago.
It was the sixth consecutive quarter of growth in Italy.
ISTAT said the industrial and services sectors had both grown, while output in agriculture had declined. “A positive contribution to growth came from the domestic component, while the net foreign component generated a negative contribution,” it added in a statement.
Italy, like much the rest of Europe, is facing increasingly challenging economic conditions, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine pushing up energy costs and heightening uncertainty for businesses.
The government revised down in April its 2022 economic growth forecast to 3.1per cent from a 4.7per cent projection made last September. The International Monetary Fund this week predicted that Italian GDP would rise 3.0per cent this year compared with average growth of 2.6per cent across the eurozone as a whole.
However, with political instability returning to Italy following the collapse last week of Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s national unity government, the economy could see a rocky end to 2022. Data released earlier this week showed morale amongst both businesses and consumers fell in July.