Labour market — Italy · Synthesis

Unemployment at its lowest in years. The unemployment rate stands at around 6.5% in 2024 (ISTAT), its lowest level for more than a decade, well down from the peaks of the 2010s. Job creation has been sustained, driven by the recovery and incentives.

A structurally low employment rate. Despite falling unemployment, the employment rate for 20–64-year-olds (≈ 62–67%) remains the lowest of the major Union economies. The gap stems mainly from the low participation of women, young people and the South — a structural feature of the Italian labour market.

High youth unemployment. Unemployment among 15–24-year-olds remains around 20%, and the share of young people not in employment, education or training (NEETs) is among the highest in Europe. The school-to-work transition is difficult, especially in the Mezzogiorno.

A stark North–South divide. The labour market is deeply dual: the North posts employment rates close to the European average, while the South has much higher unemployment and inactivity. Undeclared work ('lavoro nero') is also more widespread there.

Wages and job quality. Italy stands out for a long-term stagnation of real wages, among the most pronounced in the OECD, and the absence of a national statutory minimum wage (minima are set by collective agreements) — a recurring debate. Precarity and short-term contracts also weigh on job quality.

Raising the employment rate. The main challenge is to increase participation, particularly for women (childcare, work-life balance) and in the South. The PNRR includes targets to this end (see Economy category).

Integrating young people. Reducing youth unemployment and the share of NEETs, and smoothing the school-to-work transition (apprenticeships, training), is a major issue linked to education (see Education category) and the emigration of young graduates ('brain drain').

Demographics and immigration. Ageing, one of the most advanced in the world, shrinks the working-age population and makes labour immigration necessary (see Immigration and Economy categories). This is a structural determinant.

Wages and the minimum wage. The debate on introducing a statutory minimum wage and on restoring long-stagnant real wages shapes labour policy.

The open questions. Three issues will shape the period: (1) raising the employment rate for women and in the South; (2) integrating young people and limiting brain drain; (3) restoring stagnant real wages.

Placed in its environment, Italy presents a labour market improving on unemployment, but marked by the lowest employment rate of the large countries and strong internal fractures.

Three takeaways. (1) Unemployment: falling, near the average. At ≈ 6.5%, Italian unemployment is close to the EU average (≈ 6%), below France (≈ 7.3%), but above Germany (≈ 3.4%) and the United Kingdom (≈ 4.4%).

(2) Employment: the lowest in the panel. The employment rate (≈ 62–67%) is well below France (≈ 74%), the United Kingdom (≈ 75%) and especially Germany (≈ 81%) — the main weak point.

(3) Young people and women: the margins. Youth unemployment and low female participation, more pronounced than elsewhere, account for most of the employment gap with neighbours.