Vineyards in the Chianti r

The country was the world's 7th largest exporter in 2009.[110] Italy's closest trade ties are with the other countries of the European Union, with whom it conducts about 59% of its total trade. Its largest EU trade partners, in order of market share, are Germany (12.9%), France (11.4%), and Spain (7.4%).[111] Finally, tourism is one of the fastest growing and profitable sectors of the national economy: with 43.6 million international tourist arrivals and total receipts estimated at $38.8 billion in 2010, Italy is both the fifth most visited country and highest tourism earner in the world.[112]


Vineyards in the Chianti region. Italy is the world's largest wine producer.
Despite these important achievements, the Italian economy today suffers from many and relevant problems. After a strong GDP growth of 5–6% per year from the 1950s to the early 1970s,[113] and a progressive slowdown in the 1980s and 1990s, the last decade's average annual growth rates poorly performed at 1.23% in comparison to an average EU annual growth rate of 2.28%.[114] The stagnation in economic growth, and the political efforts to revive it with massive government spending from the 1980s onwards, eventually produced a severe rise in public debt. According to the EU's statistics body Eurostat, Italian public debt stood at 116% of GDP in 2010, ranking as the second biggest debt ratio after Greece (with 126.8%).[115]
However, the biggest part of Italian public debt is owned by national subjects, a major difference between Italy and Greece.[116] In addition, Italian living standards have a considerable north-south divide. The average GDP per capita in the north exceeds by far the EU average, while many regions of Southern Italy are dramatically below.[117] Italy has often been referred the sick man of Europe,[118][119] characterised by economic stagnation, political instability and problems in pursuing reform programs. By the end of August 2013, unemployment reached 12.2% (40.1% for youths).[120]
More specifically, Italy suffers from structural weaknesses because of its geographical conformation and the lack of raw materials and energy resources: in 2006 the country imported more than 86% of its total energy consumption (99.7% of the solid fuels, 92.5% of oil, 91.2% of natural gas and 15% of electricity).[121][122] The Italian economy is weakened by the lack of infrastructure development, market reforms and research investment, and also high public deficit.[107] In the Index of Economic Freedom 2008, the country ranked 64th in the world and 29th in Europe, the lowest rating in the Eurozone. While Italy received development assistance from the European Union until recently,[123] in 2011 the country was the third net contributor to European Budget after Ge

The Ferrari F12berlinetta. Italy is the world's 7th largest exporter of goods. Italy has a mar

Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol    Trento    13,607    5,254    1,036,639
Umbria    Perugia    8,456    3,265    906,675
Veneto    Venice    18,399    7,104    4,936,197
Economy

Main article: Economy of Italy


The Ferrari F12berlinetta. Italy is the world's 7th largest exporter of goods.
Italy has a market economy characterized by high per capita GDP and low unemployment rates. In 2012, it was the ninth-largest economy in the world and the fifth-largest in Europe in terms of nominal GDP,[3] and the tenth-largest economy in the world and fourth-largest in Europe in terms of PPP.[3] It is a founding member of the G7, G8, the Eurozone and the OECD.
After World War II, Italy was rapidly transformed from an agriculture based economy into one of the world's most industrialized nations[104] and a leading country in world trade and exports. It is a developed country, with the world's 8th highest quality of life in 2005[14] and the 25th Human Development Index. In spite of the recent global economic crisis, Italian per capita GDP at purchasing power parity remains approximately above to the EU average,[105] while the unemployment rate (8.5%) stands as one of the EU's lowest.[106] The country is well known for its influential and innovative business economic sector,[107] an industrious and competitive agricultural sector[107] (Italy is the world's largest wine producer),[108] and for its creative and high-quality automobile, industrial, appliance and fashion design.[107]


Italy is part of a monetary union, the Eurozone (dark blue), and of the EU single market.
Italy has a smaller number of global multinational corporations than other economies of comparable size, but there is a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises, notoriously clustered in several industrial districts, which are the backbone of the Italian industry. This has produced a manufacturing sector often focused on the export of niche market and luxury products, that if on one side is less capable to compete on the quantity, on the other side is more capable of facing the competition from China and other emerging Asian economies based on lower labour costs, with higher quality products.[109]

Palazzo Montec

rmed by the representatives of all the anti-fascist forces that contributed to the defeat of Nazi and Fascist forces during the Civil War.[89]
Government
Italy has a parliamentary government based on a proportional voting system. The parliament is perfectly bicameral: the two houses, the Chamber of Deputies (that meets in Palazzo Montecitorio) and the Senate of the Republic (that meets in Palazzo Madama), have the same powers. The Prime Minister, officially President of the Council of Ministers (Presidente del Consiglio dei Ministri), is Italy's head of government. The Prime Minister and the cabinet are appointed by the President of the Republic, but must pass a vote of confidence in Parliament to become in office.
While the office is similar to those in most other parliamentary systems, the Italian prime minister has less authority than some of his counterparts. The prime minister is not authorized to request the dissolution of Parliament or dismiss ministers (that are exclusive prerogatives of the President of the Republic) and must receive a vote of approval from the Council of Ministers—which holds effective executive power—to execute most political activities.


Palazzo Montecitorio, seat of the Italian Chamber of Deputies.
After the resignation of Silvio Berlusconi on 12 November 2011, economist Mario Monti has been appointed as a technocratic Prime Minister. The Italy's four major political parties are the People of Freedom, the Democratic Party, the Northern League and the Union of Christian and Centre Democrats (UDC). During the 2008 general elections these four parties won 589 out of 630 seats available in the Chamber of Deputies and 293 out of 315 seats available in the Senate of the Republic.
Most of the remaining seats were won by minor parties that only contest election in one part of Italy, like the South Tyrolean People's Party and the Movement for Autonomies. However, during the last 3 years, a so-called "Third Pole" emerged, merging the Christian Democrats of UDC with some dissident MPs coming from Mr. Berlusconi's cabinet.
A peculiarity of the Italian Parliament is the representation given to Italian citizens permanently living abroad: 12 Deputies and 6 Senators elected in four distinct overseas constituencies. In addition, the Italian Senate is characterized also by a small number of senators for life, appointed by the President "for outstanding patriotic merits in the social, scientific, artistic or literary field". Former Presidents of the Republic are ex officio life senators.
Law and criminal justice
Main articles: Law of Italy, Judiciary of Italy, and Law enforcement in Italy


The Supreme Court of Cassation.