Southern Italy's economy shows modest growth amid persistent employment gaps

The Mezzogiorno region recorded an 8.3% increase in GDP between 2019 and 2025, outpacing the national average of 6.3%. Employment in the South rose to 6.52 million, a 0.6% increase, three times the national trend of 0.2%. The ZES Unica per il Mezzogiorno drove €9.2 billion of direct investment, creating roughly 25,000 new jobs, mainly in agro‑food, automotive, electronics‑ICT and tourism, while high‑tech sectors such as aerospace and biotech remain under‑represented. Despite these gains, the regional employment rate stays low at 50% versus the national 62.5%, per‑capita GDP lags, and southern exports fell 1.1% in Q1 2026 (Puglia being an exception with +9.8%). Foreign‑controlled firms also account for only 9.4% of businesses in the South, far below the 49.8% share in the north‑west, and delays persist in turning EU cohesion funds into projects.

In Puglia, the 2025 INPS gender report shows female employment at 37.9% compared with 64.2% for men, a 26.3‑point gap that exceeds the national differential by over eleven points. More than half of working‑age women are inactive (57.1% vs 29.2% of men). Women earn an average daily wage of €64.8 versus €89 for men, and receive a pension of €840 per month versus €1,507 for men. Parental‑leave uptake by fathers rose 73% from 2022 to 2024, and support measures for female autonomy increased, with 591 applications for the “Reddito di Libertà” in 2025, of which 292 were approved.