LOMBARDIA - Economy
Between 1997 and 2000, according to Istat estimates, the gross domestic product in Lombardia at current prices increased by 4.3% a year, slightly less than the national figure (4.5%). The average growth of internal final consumption has been of 5.3% (5.2% for Italy), whereas gross fixed investments have grown by 8.6% (7.7% in Italy), and, in particular, by 12.3% in the latest year.
The gross domestic product in Lombardia (equal to over 238 billion euros in 2000) accounts for 20.4% of the total gross domestic product of Italy. When this measure is considered by inhabitant, it results in a value of 26 175 euros per inhabitant, which is almost 30% higher than the national average. The average wage from income, in the region, is equal to 31 764 euros, compared to a national figure of 28 834.
The total value added of the region in 2001 was equal to 236 billion euros (20.8% of the national total), with the following contribution of the economic sectors: agriculture 1.6% of the total (2.7% nationally), industry, including construction, 34% (27.7% nationally), whereas the services sector make up the remaining 62.8% (69.6% nationally).
Household expenditure was equal in 2000 to 80% of total consumption, 4 percentage points above the national average, whereas consumption per inhabitant was 11% higher than the national average. The breakdown of household expenditure by categories of goods is not too different from the national figures. In particular, 15.6% of total expenditure is spent on food and drinks, 19.7% on housing, with a further 10% on products for the house, 13% on transport and 3.5% on communication.
Data by province show a high concentration in the value added of the province of Milan (with 50% of total value added) and especially in the services sector (53.8%). The situation is again varied concerning the distribution of value added by economic sector and by province. The contribution of agriculture to value added is higher than the regional average in the provinces of Cremona (where it makes up for 8.3% of total value added), Mantova (8.2%), Lodi (5.7%), Pavia (4.5%) and Brescia (3.3%). The ?industrialised? provinces, according to the share of value added made up for by the industrial sector, are Lecco (where value added from industry equals 45.6% of the total value added of the province), Bergamo (44.2%), Varese (39.0%) and, to a minor degree, Como (37.5%), Mantova (37.4%) and Brescia (36.2%). Finally the services sector is very relevant for the province of Sondrio (with 70% of total value added produced in this sector), Milan (68.1%) and Pavia (66.0%).
When value added per inhabitant is considered, the highest values can be found in Milan (28 049 euros per capita) and the lowest in Pavia (17 542 euros per capita). These values are however conditioned by the demographic structure of the population and by the concentration of productive units on the territory.
The productive system in Lombardia
Lombardia?s development has been marked by the growth of the services sector since the 1980s, and in particular by the growth of innovative activities in the sector of services to enterprises and in credit and financial services. At the same time, the strong industrial vocation of the region has not suffered from it. Lombardia remains, in fact, the main industrial area of the country. The presence, and development, of a very high number of enterprises belonging to the services sector represents a favourable situation for the improvement of the efficiency of the productive process, as well as for the growth of the regional economy.
In 2001, the number of enterprises in Lombardia was of 710 thousand, equal to 17% of the national total. Of these, almost 190 thousand (26% of them) are manufacturing enterprises, and represent 19% of the manufacturing industry in Italy. 40% of the workforce of these enterprises belong to the industrial sector and 60% to the services sector (these values are very different from the national ones, equal to 33% and 67%, respectively). The average size of the enterprises is of 5.2 employees, against 4.5 nationally.
The region can broadly be divided into three areas as regards the productive activity. Milan, where the services sector makes up for 65.3% of the employment; a group of provinces, Varese, Como, Lecco, Bergamo and Brescia, highly industrialised, although in the two latter ones, in the plains, there is also a rich agricultural sector. Finally, in the provinces of Sondrio, Pavia, Cremona, Mantova and Lodi, there is a consistent agricultural activity, and at the same time an above average development of the services sector.
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