Italy has a diverse economy that's more or less split in two, the developed industrial north, dominated by private companies, and the less developed, more welfare-dependent agricultural south. It's the 10th-largest consumer market in the world by household consumption. Food and drinks, tourism, luxury goods, fashion, pharmaceuticals, industrial equipment, healthcare, textiles, shoemaking and transport are some of the biggest players in the sector.
Italian consumers are hot on quality, often more concerned about service than price, and they love home-manufactured goods. While the Italian economy is getting healthier by the month consumers are still rather cautious, having been burned like the rest of us by the global recession, the banking crisis, and worries about their own wobbly banking sector.
The average age of the Italian population is approaching fifty, making it a mature market, and experts predict the median will be over 50 by the year 2030. This encourages a healthy demand for specialist age-related products and services.
Italians are not the world's best savers. They prefer to consume. 2017's positive economic signals increased their confidence a little, but they still save less than 7.5% of their monthly income, the lowest level since winter 2012. At the same time household consumption has gone up a small amount thanks to the population's reluctance to save.
