• Istat, work: in February 945,000 fewer employees in one year

  • Istat.

    Household income and purchasing power are falling, consumption is down

  • Istat: in the second wave Covid 93.2% of the population with masks in open places

  • Istat: unprecedented decline in employment, minus 456 thousand in 2020

  • Istat: Covid curbs life expectancy

  • Istat, in January 2021 GDP on the rise: + 1% on December

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07 April 2021 Italian exports suffered a double drop compared to 2009 but returned to pre-crisis numbers in a relatively short time. In fact, between 2018 and 2020, Italy held out better than France and Germany. As regards the internal production system, however, the sectors most affected by the crisis were manufacturing and the service sector. "Thus Gian Paolo Oneto, central director for Studies and Thematic Enhancement in the area of ​​Istat's Economic Statistics , upon presentation of the report.



"This is - states the president of Istat, Gian Carlo Blangiardo - of a research work which, in its ninth edition, aims to statistically analyze the stability of the Italian production sector, affected by the economic consequences produced by the pandemic. crisis has mainly damaged small businesses, forced to face the collapse of liquidity and domestic demand with little means. The pandemic has also accentuated the gap between the various geographical areas of the country. Abruzzo, Basilicata, Campania, Sardinia and Umbria were the regions that, according to the report, suffered more than the others from the pandemic crisis in terms of productive stability ", he concluded.



"The manufacturing sector - reads the Istat report - suffered a decline in turnover corresponding to 11% in 2020. The sector most affected was clothing which in 2020 recorded a drop in revenues of about 25% . The service sector, on the other hand, suffered a net reduction in turnover (minus 42%), the most negative data reported since 2001 ".

These are the merciless data that emerge from the research work that also focuses on the stability of individual production activities: "Travel agencies have suffered a 76% decline in turnover, air transport reported a minus 60%. 45% of small businesses consider themselves to be at risk both in structural and operational terms. Only 11% of small businesses consider themselves to be solid. 50% of companies in the service sector believe themselves to be at risk of bankruptcy ".



An ad hoc chapter is dedicated to the crisis in the tourism sector.

"Tourism - continues the Istat report - had 74% fewer presences in 2020 and a 59% reduction in total arrivals in the Italian regions. Travel agencies have zeroed their revenues (minus 88%). The 27 % of the interviewees decided to downsize their business, 21% to diversify production, while 18% intend to reorganize their business ".



Survival at risk for a third companies, less than a fifth is pessimistic

"Recent surveys on the effects of the health emergency show that in November 2020 almost a third of companies considered their survival at risk, more than 60% expected decreasing revenues and only one in five felt they had not suffered any consequences or had benefited from the crisis. "

This was reported by Istat in the 2021 Competitiveness Report, observing how "despite an improving scenario, the recovery prospects for 2021 are considered limited".

In fact, the document states, "fewer than one in five businesses expect a normal continuation of business in the first half of the year. The crisis has hit above all small and very small businesses (over a third of those with 3-9 employees) and manifested itself mainly through a collapse in internal demand and liquidity ".



Business insolvency increases shock risk for banks

The insolvency of many businesses, which is the main risk for the Italian production system in the coming months, "increases the exposure of the banking system to possible transmission of the shock from the non-financial segment, implying possible tensions both on the balance sheets of the banks and on the bank-company relations "again underlines ISTAT in its report.



The pandemic crisis has also affected the financing strategies of companies which, to face the liquidity crisis, have used a wide range of instruments in which bank credit has played a central role.

In general, on the basis of the indications provided by companies for 2021, the changes to the financing channels induced by the pandemic "appear transitory and linked mostly to the economic consequences of the health emergency".



High-risk production system for 5 southern regions

The health crisis has widened the North-South gap.

There are five regions of the South with a production system with a high risk of holding up: Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania and Sardinia.

The crisis linked to the pandemic has produced divisions on the Italian territory, "also due to the application of the measures to contain the pandemic on a regional basis; the vulnerability of the local productive fabric depends both on the degree of diffusion, within it, of the sectors most affected by the crisis, both as it specializes in these activities ".



An indicator of the degree of "combined risk" (in terms of businesses and employees) of the territories makes it possible to highlight how the crisis tends to accentuate the gap between the Italian geographical areas: of the six regions whose productive fabric is at high combined risk, five they belong to the South, (Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania and Sardinia) and one to Central Italy (Umbria).

The six regions that can be classified as low-risk are instead all located in northern Italy (Piedmont, Liguria, Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Autonomous Province of Trento).


#GianPaoloOneto #Istat



The economic impact of the pandemic on the territories was heterogeneous but pervasive.

A territorial indicator of “combined risk” shows that the crisis accentuates the gap between geographical areas.

# Competitiveness Report # 7aprile pic.twitter.com/2iv083UzQL

- Istat (@istat_it) April 7, 2021


In a year lost a million jobs

Unemployment that is stabilizing after the blow received by the Covid effects on work that in one year have caused the loss of about one million jobs.

Istat photography is in chiaroscuro, even if the prospects, also in view of a possible stop to layoffs, remain very uncertain.



In February, Istat observes, the decline in employment in Italy substantially comes to a halt, remaining almost stable compared to January, while the unemployed and inactive fell slightly.

Istat data show unemployment at 10.2% in February (-0.1 points compared to the previous month).

The youth rate fell sharply to 31.6% (-1.2 points).

Employment is stable among both women and men, it grows among permanent employees and the under 35s, while it falls among temporary employees, the self-employed and those who are at least 35 years old.

The employment rate was also stable, equal to 56.5%.



In addition, in February, the decline in the number of job seekers (-0.3% compared to January, equal to -9 thousand units) concerns men and the under 50s, among women and people aged 50 or over it is observed a slight increase.

The unemployment rate drops to 10.2% (-0.1 points) and among young people to 31.6% (-1.2 points).

The number of inactive people also decreased slightly (-0.1% compared to January, equal to -10 thousand units) due, on the one hand, to the decrease among women and those aged at least 25 and, on the other, to the growth among men. and 15-24 year olds.

The inactivity rate is stable at 37.0%.



The Istat data for February therefore see the negative trend that, between September 2020 and January 2021, led to the loss of more than 410 thousand employees and after two months of strong increase, the number of unemployed decreases slightly.

But in a year between February 2020 and February 2021, the decrease in employment amounted to 945 thousand units and involved men, women, employees, self-employed and all age groups.

"At the same time - comments Istat - the unemployed (+21 thousand) and, above all, the inactive, have grown by over 700 thousand. Compared to February 2020, the employment rate is 2.2 percentage points lower and that of unemployment is higher than 0.5 ".