The Italian economy recorded a decline of 0.3% in the second quarter of 2023, a marked slowdown compared to the first three months of the year, when GDP had grown by 0.6%. This was communicated by Istat, emphasizing that the discontinuity of the economic trend between April and June is matched by the positive evolution of the GDP in tendential terms in an amount of 0.6%, which represents the tenth consecutive quarterly growth. On a quarterly basis, however, this is the worst result since the fourth quarter of 2020, when economic activity contracted by 0.7%.
«This result, whose preliminary nature should be highlighted», explains the statistical institute, «is due to one decline in both the primary and industrial sectors, against a moderate growth in the services sector. On the demand side, the decline comes from the national component gross of stocks, with the net foreign component which provided a zero contribution”. In terms of variation acquired, for 2023 growth stood at 0.8% in the second quarter, slightly down compared to the value in the first quarter, which was 0.9%. The second quarter of 2023 had three fewer working days than the previous quarter and one fewer working day than the second quarter of 2022.