Italy is enjoying a moment of renewed economic and political confidence, but beneath the encouraging numbers lie persistent structural weaknesses. That is the assessment offered by The Times in an editorial examining the country’s current economic climate.
The article, titled “Giorgia Meloni Gets Italy Working Again - But Job Is Not Yet Done,” opens with a symbolic image: Italy’s recent victory over England in the Six Nations rugby tournament. According to the newspaper, sporting triumphs often coincide with periods of economic expansion, and the result seemed to reflect a broader sense of optimism across the country.
Recent economic data certainly appear promising. Italy’s unemployment rate has fallen to 5.1 percent, its lowest level since 2004 and slightly below the 5.2 percent recorded in the United Kingdom. In addition, Italy’s purchasing-power-adjusted GDP per capita surpassed Britain’s last year.
Political stability has also played a role. While the UK has experienced several leadership changes in recent years, the government led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has provided a more consistent political landscape.
Some Italians have even begun invoking the idea of “Il Sorpasso” - the “overtaking” - a phrase famously associated with the 1962 film and previously used when Italy’s economy surpassed Britain’s in the late 1980s.
International recognition has also boosted Meloni’s profile. Over the weekend, former US President Donald Trump praised her during a phone conversation with the Corriere della Sera, calling her “a great leader” and “a friend,” comments the British newspaper contrasted with the far cooler tone he often adopts toward UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Yet many economists urge caution. Francesco Seghezzi, director of the think tank Adapt, argues that the unemployment figures hide underlying weaknesses. A key concern is the large share of people who are not actively seeking work and therefore are not counted as unemployed - 33.9 percent in Italy compared with 20.8 percent in the UK.
Meloni, however, has defended the labor market’s performance, pointing to rising employment levels and stressing that “the most meaningful indicator of the real economy is employment.”
Even so, Italy still lags behind many European peers. The country’s employment rate stands at about 62 percent, compared with roughly 75 percent in the United Kingdom, and female participation in the labor market remains particularly low.
Analysts also note that recent employment growth has been supported by temporary factors, including construction projects fueled by government incentives, EU recovery funds, and increased demand for healthcare and social services linked to an aging population.
In the long run, economists argue, Italy’s biggest challenge remains productivity. As economist Pietro Reichlin points out, the country’s economic structure is dominated by small, low-tech firms that tend to pay lower wages than larger, high-tech companies.
“The problems Italy faces are structural,” Reichlin said. “Those of the United Kingdom are mostly cyclical.”