GDP: Southern Italy is growing faster than Central and Northern Italy, with Calabria and Campania leading the way
In 2025, growth is expected to rise by 0.7 per cent, compared with 0.5 per cent, but growth is slowing
Key points
For the fourth consecutive year, the South has grown faster than the Italian average, driven by public investment. The final figures for 2025, estimated by Svimez (the Association for Industrial Development in Southern Italy), show that GDP in the southern regions rose by 0.7 per cent, compared with 0.5 per cent in the Centre-North; however, this growth rate was lower than in 2024, when it reached 1 per cent. “This marks the consolidation of a very positive trend,” commented Luigi Sbarra, the Under-Secretary to the Prime Minister with responsibility for the South.
The South has seen higher growth for four years running – something not seen since the post-war economic boom
Svimez points out that the South has not recorded such strong growth for four consecutive years ‘since the post-war economic boom’. On the other hand, however, the figures for Italia’s overall growth gap show a worrying lag behind the European Union. In 2025, national GDP grew by half a percentage point, falling even below the 0.8 per cent recorded in 2024, and remains consistently below the EU-27 average of +1.5 per cent.
“Spain,” Svimez summarises, “continues its significant growth of +2.8 per cent; France stands at 0.8 per cent; Germany, on the other hand, following the recession of the previous two years, remains at a modest 0.2 per cent.”
Employment is growing, but at a slower pace than in previous years, and the figures relating to young people need to be interpreted with care. According to Svimez estimates, the number of people in work rose by 185,000 compared with 2024 (+0.8%), reaching 24 million 117 thousand. However, the increase is limited exclusively to the over-50s (+4.2%), whilst employment has fallen among the under-35s (-2%) and in the 35–49 age group (-1.3%).
Sprints in Calabria and Campania
For the fifth consecutive year, Southern Italy has recorded higher employment growth than the Centre-North (+1.4% compared with +0.6%), with Calabria (+3.8%) and Campania (+2.6%) among the most dynamic regions, whilst in the Centre-North the best performances were seen in Liguria (+2.7%) and Emilia-Romagna (+2.0%). In the South, the growth in female employment (+1.9%) stands out, at almost double that of male employment (+1.0%).
