Italy Economy Contracts For First Time In 2 Years

(RTTNews) - Italy's economy shrank for the first time in two years in the second quarter, preliminary estimate from the statistical office ISTAT showed Wednesday.

Gross domestic product dropped unexpectedly by 0.1 percent sequentially, in contrast to the 0.3 percent expansion in the first quarter. This was the first fall since the second quarter 2023 and confounded expectations for an increase of 0.1 percent.

From the demand side, there was a positive contribution by the domestic component and a negative contribution by the net export component.

On a yearly basis, economic growth softened to 0.4 percent from 0.7 percent in the first quarter. GDP was forecast to grow 0.6 percent.

The carry-over annual GDP growth for 2025 was equal to +0.5 percent.

Another data from the statistical office showed that industrial turnover declined 2.2 percent month-on-month in May, in contrast to the 1.4 percent increase in April. Year-on-year, industrial sales declined 1.8 percent, reversing a 0.9 percent rise in the prior month.