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Italian Economy and Leading Sectors:
Italy is theworld’s ninth biggest economy, relyingmainly on services andmanufacturing
as its most significant sectors. The services sector accounts for almost 75% of
total GDP and employs around 65% of the country’s total employed, with the most
important contributors being the wholesale, retail sales and transportation sectors.
Industry accounts for a quarter of Italy’s total production and employs around 30%
of the total workforce. Manufacturing is the most important sub-sector within the
industry sector. The country’s manufacturing industry specializes in the production
of high-quality goods and is mainly run by family-owned small and medium-sized
enterprises. Agriculture contributes the remaining share of total GDP and it employs
around 4% of the total workforce.
The country is divided into a highly-industrialized and developed northern part, where
approximately 75% of the nation’s wealth is produced and a less-developed, more
agriculture-dependent southern part.
Italy is well known for its influential and innovative business economic sector, with Italy
lying in second place as Europe’s largest manufacturer after Germany. It is known for
its competitive edge in agriculture sector (Italy is the world's largest wine producer),
and for its creative and high-quality automobile, naval, industrial, appliance and fashion
designs. Italy is the largest market for luxury goods in Europe and third in the world.
The country’s main exports are mechanical machinery and equipment, accounting for
around 24% of total exports, as well as motor vehicles and luxury vehicles (7.2%).
Home to some of world’s most famous fashion brands, Italy occupies a special niche
in the global market of fashion and clothing. In fact, exports of clothing and footwear
account for around 11% of the country’s total exports. Other important exports
include electronic equipment (5.6%) and pharmaceutical products (4.6%).
Italy’s main imports are fuels, which account for around 17% of total imports,
machinery (14.2%), raw materials (10%) and food (7%).
Aside from the legal system, influence of EU regulation and the language,
other key differences with the Israeli legal and business environment include
the fact that Italy is more private equity driven and less venture capital driven
than Israel.
Doing
Business in
Italy