Italy (continued)
Peter F. SECCHIA; Embassy at Via Veneto 119/A, 00187-Rome (mailing address is APO New York 09794); telephone [39](6) 46741; there are US Consulates General in Florence, Genoa, Milan, Naples, and Palermo (Sicily)
Flag: three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), white, and red; similar to the flag of Ireland which is longer and is green (hoist side), white, and orange; also similar to the flag of the Ivory Coast which has the colors reversed—orange (hoist side), white, and green
Economy
Overview: Since World War II the economy
has changed from one based on
agriculture into a ranking industrial economy,
with approximately the same total and per
capita output as France and the UK. The
country is still divided into a developed
industrial north, dominated by large
private companies and state enterprises and
an undeveloped agricultural south.
Services account for 58% of GDP, industry
37%, and agriculture 5%. Most raw
materials needed by industry and over 75% of
energy requirements must be imported.
The economic recovery that began in mid-1983
has continued through 1989, with
the economy growing at an annual average
rate of 3%. For the 1990s, Italy faces
the problems of refurbishing a tottering
communications system, curbing the
increasing pollution in major industrial
centers, and adjusting to the new competitive
forces accompanying the ongoing
economic integration of the European
Community.
GDP: $803.3 billion, per capita $14,000; real growth rate 3.3% (1989 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 6.6% (1989 est.)
Unemployment rate: 11.9% (1989)
Budget: revenues $355 billion; expenditures $448 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1989)
Exports: $141.6 billion (f.o.b., 1989); commodities—textiles, wearing apparel, metals, transportation equipment, chemicals; partners—EC 57%, US 9%, OPEC 4%
Imports: $143.1 billion (f.o.b., 1989); commodities—petroleum, industrial machinery, chemicals, metals, food, agricultural products; partners—EC 57%, OPEC 6%, US 6%
External debt: NA
Industrial production: growth rate 2.9% (1989)
Electricity: 56,022,000 kW capacity; 201,400 million kWh produced, 3,500 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: machinery and transportation equipment, iron and steel, chemicals, food processing, textiles, motor vehicles
Agriculture: accounts for about 5% of GNP and 5% of the work force; self-sufficient in foods other than meat and dairy products; principal crops—fruits, vegetables, grapes, potatoes, sugar beets, soybeans, grain, olives; fish catch of 554,000 metric tons in 1987
Aid: donor—ODA and OOF commitments (1970-87), $18.7 billion
Currency: Italian lira (plural—lire); 1 Italian lira (Lit) = 100 centesimi
Exchange rates: Italian lire (Lit) per US$1—1,262.5 (January 1990), 1,372.1 (1989), 1,301.6 (1988), 1,296.1 (1987), 1,490.8 (1986), 1,909.4 (1985)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications
Railroads: 20,011 km total; 16,066 km
1.435-meter government-owned standard
gauge (8,999 km electrified); 3,945 km
privately owned—2,100km 1.435-meter
standard gauge (1,155 km electrified) and
1,845 km 0.950-meter narrow gauge (380
km electrified)
Highways: 294,410 km total; autostrada 5,900 km, state highways 45,170 km, provincial highways 101,680 km, communal highways 141,660 km; 260,500 km concrete, bituminous, or stone block, 26,900 km gravel and crushed stone, 7,010 km earth
Inland waterways: 2,400 km for various types of commercial traffic, although of limited overall value
Pipelines: crude oil, 1,703 km; refined products, 2,148 km; natural gas, 19,400 km
Ports: Cagliari (Sardinia), Genoa, La Spezia, Livorno, Naples, Palermo (Sicily), Taranto, Trieste, Venice
Merchant marine: 547 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 6,871,505 GRT/10,805,368 DWT; includes 6 passenger, 41 short-sea passenger, 100 cargo, 5 refrigerated cargo, 22 container, 72 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 4 vehicle carrier, 1 multi-function large-load carrier, 2 livestock carrier, 147 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 37 chemical tanker, 29 liquefied gas, 8 specialized tanker, 16 combination ore/oil, 55 bulk, 2 combination bulk
Civil air: 132 major transport aircraft
Airports: 143 total, 138 usable; 88 with permanent-surface runways; 2 with runways over 3,659 m; 35 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 42 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: well engineered, constructed, and operated; 28,000,000 telephones; stations—144 AM, 54 (over 1,800 repeaters) FM, 135 (over 1,300 repeaters) TV; 22 submarine cables; communication satellite earth stations operating in INTELSAT 3 Atlantic Ocean and 2 Indian Ocean, INMARSAT, and EUTELSAT systems
Defense Forces
Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force
Military manpower: males 15-49, 14,721,704; 12,855,022 fit for military service; 430,782 reach military age (18) annually
Defense expenditures: 2.4% of GDP, or $19 billion (1989 est.)
