Agrigento remains last in per capita value

Call it the Agrigento paradox if you like. Because in the city of Luigi Pirandello, being and appearance are a constant motion. So scrolling through the data of the Tagliacarne Institute's classification on the added value of the Italian provinces, one discovers that yes, it is true, Agrigento is in first place (tied with Chieti) for added value growth in 2023 over 2022. But it also turns out that Agrigento, despite having totalled a growth of 7.85 per cent, is nailed to last place in the ranking for added value per capita, exactly as in 2022: 2023 closed with a total added value of 7.141 billion against 6.622 billion in 2022, while the added value per capita in 2023 was 17,345 euro "exactly as in 2022," explain the Tagliacarne and far from the added value per capita of Sicily, which is 20,062 euro. To be clear, Piedmont's Alessandria, which has more or less the same extension and inhabitants as Agrigento, had in 2022 an added value of 11.802 billion (almost double that of Agrigento) and in 2023 a total added value of 12.516 billion with an increase of six per cent while the per capita added value in 2023 was 30,777 euro . "The Mezzogiorno shows important signs of vitality, even if in front of provinces that record trends even higher than the national average, there are others that struggle to keep up, making a North and a South emerge almost within the same Meridione," explains Unioncamere President Andrea Prete.

Value added, however, is growing but not enough and we are faced with the usual question: should the glass be looked at half empty or half full? Agrigento is at the same time first (for growth in total added value while in absolute value in 2023 it ranks 77th) and last (for added value per capita) while in 2003 it ranked 103rd. Analysis of the data gives us a picture of a province that is growing in various sectors, but it is that last place that is striking because it is a sign that something is still not going as it should.

The data show a positive economic performance in the province of Agrigento in 2023 compared to 2022. The sectors with the largest percentage increases were financial and professional activities (+14.46%) and construction (+10.80%). Agriculture and trade also showed interesting growth dynamics. But let's look at them in detail: the primary sector recorded an increase in added value of €49.76 million, rising from €546.13 million in 2022 to €595.90 million in 2023, corresponding to a percentage increase of 9.11%; the increase recorded in the industrial sector was more modest, with an increase of €24.38 million, rising from €582.26 million in 2022 to €606.64 million in 2023, corresponding to a percentage increase of 4.19%; the construction sector had a significant increase of 10.80%, equivalent to EUR 40.56 million, from EUR 375.63 million in 2022 to EUR 416.19 million in 2023; trade, including motor vehicle repair, had an increase of EUR 86.05 million, from EUR 1.321.89 million in 2022 to 1,407.93 million in 2023, a percentage growth of 6.51%. But it is the financial and professional services sector that showed the most significant absolute and percentage growth. The added value increased by EUR 239.22 million from EUR 1,654.30 million in 2022 to EUR 1,893.52 million in 2023, corresponding to an increase of 14.46 per cent.

Agrigento's growth is part of a context, that of the Sicilian economy, which in 2023 showed signs of expansion in all the sectors analysed, with percentage increases ranging from 6.10% in trade to 11.38% in financial and professional services. Agriculture recorded an increase in added value of €432.82 million, from €4,055.68 million in 2022 to €4,488.50 million in 2023, a percentage increase of 10.67%; industry added value grew by €620.37 million, from €8,768.53 million in 2022 to 9.388.90 million in 2023 with a percentage increase of 7.07%; Financial activities and professional services were the engine of economic growth in Sicily, with an increase in added value of €2,718.29 million, from €23,893.91 million in 2022 to €26,612.20 million in 2023, corresponding to a percentage increase of 11.38%. The construction sector showed a significant growth of 8.49%, with an increase in added value of EUR 412.22 million, from EUR 4,852.98 million in 2022 to EUR 5,265.20 million in 2023, while trade showed an increase of EUR 1,282.90 million, from EUR 21,014.10 million in 2022 to EUR 22,297.00 million in 2023 and a percentage increase of 6.10%. With a curiosity here too: although Sicily has grown, it is in 19th place in the Tagliacarne classification, exactly the same place it occupied in 2003.