A sound economy

Emilia-Romagna is a vital economic entity. The presence of numerous businesses, high employment rates, and a real and active participation in the world of work are the results of a widespread business culture, strongly rooted in the territory.
According to Eurostat data, Emilia-Romagna is among the most prosperous regions in Europe. In 2007 Istat calculated the regional GNP at around 135 billion euro*, approximately 9% of the national total. To ensure regional prosperity, there is a productive fabric with over 400 thousand businesses, mostly small to medium size. Competition levels of the network of micro-businesses, often located in industrial districts, crucial to the entire system, remain excellent with respect to the rest of Italy.


Table:Emilia-Romagna
Brief indicators
Source (Eurostat)
 GDP Per Capita
(2004)
 Workforce
(2005)
 Productivity per employed PPP (Purchasing Power Parity) (2004)
Emilia-Romagna
 28.034 euro
(31.746 euro; Istat 2007)
 68,4%
(70,3%; Istat 2007)
 62.593 euro
 Italy
  23.095 euro
 57,6%
 59.968 euro
 UE 15
  24.336 euro

 65,1%

 56.743 euro
 UE 25
 22.415 euro
 63,7%
 53.004 euro

Industry represents the core division for regional economy (year 2007): this sector contributes to 27.2% of the added value. A fact that places Emilia-Romagna among the most industrialised regions in Italy. The tertiary performance is worth noting, reaching 64.3%.

How the Emilia-Romagna population spend their money

The Emilia-Romagna people spend more on services and durables than the rest of Italy. In a total expense of over 50 billion euro annually, the regional population use a little less than half of this to purchase services: an expense that increases in the region faster than that of the rest of Italy. A little more than half the expenses is then used for material goods. Mostly these are non-durable goods, however for which the Emilia-Romagna population spend less than other Italians.

A portion of important expenses for the families of the region is residential, which takes up 27,2% of expenses, and transport, which, in Emilia-Romagna uses 14,5% of total expenses. Worth noting are also expenses for food goods (15,8%).

Graph: share of employed in total by sector (Source: Eurostat - 2005)