Employment in the South at 47.9% against 61.9% in the country

In terms of employment, the South of our country (which includes the regions of Campania, Apulia, Basilicata, Calabria, Sicily and Sardinia) continues to show significant difficulties compared to the rest of the Peninsula.

The data from the labour force survey for the first half of 2024 (from source ISTAT) reveal an employment rate for the population aged between 15 and 64 for the South of Italy of 47.9%, a value that is significantly lower than the national average (which stands at 61.9%) and the levels reached by the other divisions, such as the North-West (68.8%), Lombardy (69.2%) and the eastern area of the North (70.3%). Analysing the data by individual region, Calabria lags far behind national standards (44.3%), followed closely by Campania (45.0%) and Sicily (45.9%). On the contrary, some southern regions show slightly more comforting employment rates than the rest of the South, as in the case of Apulia (51.4%), Basilicata (55.4%) and Sardinia (57.1%), which nevertheless remain below the Italian average.

The levels of female employment are also worrying: compared to an overall value of 53.1%, the South is stuck at a limited 35.9%, with Campania and Calabria (again) at the tail end of the breakdown (32.3% and 32.6% respectively), while some of the highest peaks are recorded in Basilicata (43.6%) and Sardinia (50.0%). Another key indicator is the inactivity rate, which measures the share of the working-age population not actively looking for work (or not available for work in the immediate future). In this sense, inactives in the Mezzogiorno reach a share of 44.3% (rising to 47.4% for Calabria and 46.3% for Sicily), compared with 33.2% for Italy as a whole and 27-28% for the other macro-divisions.

To complete the picture of labour market conditions, it is possible to make use of the data provided by the Excelsior Information System of Unioncamere and the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies, which offers information on the number of staff additions that companies plan to make during the year. The number of worker entries in the Mezzogiorno during the first 10 months of 2024 is 1.2 million, about a quarter of the national total and up compared to the same period in 2023 (+4.4%).

However, when this value is compared to the resident population, the result that emerges is among the lowest in the Peninsula (9.9 entries per 100 residents, compared to 12.2 in the North-West and around 14.8 in Lombardy and the North-East).