MONTHLY NOTE ON THE PERFORMANCE OF THE ITALIAN ECONOMY - OCTOBER 2023

The international economic outlook remains very uncertain, impacted by heightened geo-political tensions and unfavourable financial conditions for households and businesses.

In the third quarter, Italy's GDP was, according to the preliminary estimate, stable compared to the previous three months, recording a better result than Germany but worse than that of France and Spain. The acquired change in GDP growth for 2023 is 0.7%.

On the supply side, the seasonally adjusted index of manufacturing output in September was unchanged after a slight increase in August. On average for the third quarter, production increased by 0.2% compared to the previous three months.

The labour market continues to hold up well despite the economic weakness. In September, the number of employed and unemployed persons increased compared to August, while the number of inactive persons decreased.

The year-on-year growth of the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) was below 2% in October. This trend was one point below the euro area average due to the sharper decline in energy prices in Italy.

In October, household and business confidence continued to fall, suggesting that the Italian economy could slow in the coming months.