Come siamo messi?

Eurostat · Italy and EU countries, since 2000

Are we growing as much as other countries?

Between the first quarter of 2000 and the second quarter of 2026, Italian real gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 14.6%; in the EU-27 it grew by 44.7%.

Eurostat, quarterly national accounts. Real GDP is the value of the goods and services produced, adjusted for price changes. Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4 are the quarters of the year: Q1 runs from January to March.

Question 1 of 4

Italy, Q1 2000 to Q2 2026+14.6%total real GDP growth over the period: portal calculation
  1. Italy+14.6%
  2. EU-27+44.7%

Change in real GDP (%)

Total growth of the two GDPs over the same quarters, not growth per person. EU-27 means today’s 27 member states, including years when the Union had fewer members.

Details, method and source

Eurostat, namq_10_gdp: GDP in volume (chain-linked values, index 2015 = 100), adjusted for seasonal and calendar effects. The portal takes the first and last quarters available for both Italy and the EU-27 and calculates the change: the last value divided by the first, minus one.

Eurostat, namq_10_gdp ↗

  1. Question 2 of 4

    When did we return to the 2008 level?

    Italian real GDP got back above its Q1 2008 level inQ2 2022In Q2 2026 Italian real GDP is 3.8% above that level. The EU-27 had got back there in Q4 2014.

    Real GDP, index Q1 2008 = 100

    The values, quarter by quarter

    The Q1 2008 level is set to 100. Above 100, real GDP is higher; the dot marks when Italy passes that level again. Portal calculation.

    Details, method and source

    Same Eurostat series (namq_10_gdp). The portal calculates the index by dividing each quarter by Q1 2008 and multiplying by 100. Q1 2008 is the comparison level chosen by the portal: the last quarter before the 2008 fall. The return quarter is the first one after Q1 2008 in which the index is back above 100 after falling below it. The figure in the sentence compares the latest published quarter with Q1 2008. Rebasing the index to 100 does not alter the percentage changes.

    Eurostat, namq_10_gdp ↗

  2. Question 3 of 4

    What about other countries?

    Italy’s place among the 27 EU countries, Q1 2000 to Q2 202627th of 27Ordered from the highest growth, which does not mean the best. At the top: Ireland, +254.6%.

    The lower part of the ranking: 8 of 27 countries

    1. Italy+14.6%
    2. Greece+21.6%
    3. Germany+31.4%
    4. Portugal+31.7%
    5. Finland+34.9%
    6. France+38.4%
    7. Austria+42.0%
    8. Belgium+48.7%

    Change in real GDP (%)

    Show all 27 countriesShow only 8 countries

    All 27 EU countries, from the lowest growth to the highest

    1. Italy+14.6%
    2. Greece+21.6%
    3. Germany+31.4%
    4. Portugal+31.7%
    5. Finland+34.9%
    6. France+38.4%
    7. Austria+42.0%
    8. Belgium+48.7%
    9. Netherlands+48.7%
    10. Denmark+52.9%
    11. Spain+56.2%
    12. Sweden+68.6%
    13. Hungary+79.6%
    14. Luxembourg+82.4%
    15. Czechia+83.3%
    16. Croatia+84.4%
    17. Slovenia+86.5%
    18. Estonia+114.2%
    19. Latvia+117.3%
    20. Bulgaria+124.9%
    21. Slovakia+129.8%
    22. Cyprus+136.3%
    23. Romania+138.7%
    24. Poland+153.6%
    25. Lithuania+171.2%
    26. Malta+219.1%
    27. Ireland+254.6%

    Change in real GDP (%)

    Real GDP growth over the same quarters for every country: portal calculation. The EU-27 total is not ranked alongside individual countries.

    Details, method and source

    For each of the 27 EU countries the portal calculates the change in real GDP between the first and the last quarter that all countries have (Eurostat, namq_10_gdp, volume index). The table has all 27 countries, from the highest growth: first means the highest value, not the best. This is total growth, not growth per person.

    Eurostat, namq_10_gdp ↗

  3. Question 4 of 4

    Does the gap change during governments’ terms?

    Terms in which Italian GDP changed less than EU-27 GDP11 of 12The exception is the Draghi government’s term.

    The changes cover periods of different lengths, not a single year. They show how much GDP changed, not how much was caused by the government. A quarter can include months under different governments.

    1. Berlusconi II

      11 June 2001 → 23 April 2005 · 46 months

      Comparison between Q1 2001 and Q1 2005

      • Italy+1.5%
      • EU-27+5.5%

      Italy minus EU-27: −4.0 points

    2. Berlusconi III

      23 April 2005 → 17 May 2006 · 13 months

      Comparison between Q1 2005 and Q1 2006

      • Italy+2.2%
      • EU-27+3.3%

      Italy minus EU-27: −1.1 points

    3. Prodi II

      17 May 2006 → 8 May 2008 · 24 months

      Comparison between Q1 2006 and Q1 2008

      • Italy+3.0%
      • EU-27+6.2%

      Italy minus EU-27: −3.2 points

    4. Berlusconi IV

      8 May 2008 → 16 November 2011 · 42 months

      Comparison between Q1 2008 and Q3 2011

      • Italy−5.1%
      • EU-27−1.2%

      Italy minus EU-27: −3.9 points

    5. Monti

      16 November 2011 → 28 April 2013 · 17 months

      Comparison between Q3 2011 and Q1 2013

      • Italy−4.8%
      • EU-27−1.6%

      Italy minus EU-27: −3.3 points

    6. Letta

      28 April 2013 → 22 February 2014 · 10 months

      Comparison between Q1 2013 and Q4 2013

      • Italy+0.4%
      • EU-27+1.3%

      Italy minus EU-27: −0.9 points

    7. Renzi

      22 February 2014 → 12 December 2016 · 34 months

      Comparison between Q4 2013 and Q3 2016

      • Italy+2.8%
      • EU-27+5.5%

      Italy minus EU-27: −2.7 points

    8. Gentiloni

      12 December 2016 → 1 June 2018 · 18 months

      Comparison between Q3 2016 and Q1 2018

      • Italy+1.9%
      • EU-27+4.3%

      Italy minus EU-27: −2.4 points

    9. Conte I

      1 June 2018 → 5 September 2019 · 15 months

      Comparison between Q1 2018 and Q2 2019

      • Italy+1.4%
      • EU-27+2.6%

      Italy minus EU-27: −1.2 points

    10. Conte II

      5 September 2019 → 13 February 2021 · 17 months

      Comparison between Q2 2019 and Q4 2020

      • Italy−6.0%
      • EU-27−3.2%

      Italy minus EU-27: −2.8 points

    11. Draghi

      13 February 2021 → 22 October 2022 · 20 months

      Comparison between Q4 2020 and Q3 2022

      • Italy+11.3%
      • EU-27+8.1%

      Italy minus EU-27: +3.2 points

    12. Meloni

      22 October 2022 → in office · 44 months until 30 June 2026

      Comparison between Q3 2022 and Q2 2026 · partial term

      • Italy+3.0%
      • EU-27+4.1%

      Italy minus EU-27: −1.1 points

    Real GDP growth over the periods shown, calculated by the portal. Changes are percentages; the gap between Italy and the EU is in percentage points. Every card uses the same scale.

    Details, method and source

    Term length comes from the swearing-in and end dates published by the Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri; the quarters compared are something else: the last one completed before each date: GDP is published by quarter. The current government’s term is partial and runs to the latest published quarter. Changes are not converted to a yearly rate: a long term can change more than a short one. No government is ranked.

    Eurostat, namq_10_gdp ↗ · Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri, list of governments ↗

Continue: how much taxes and contributions weigh on GDP, and whether the weight went up →