page_title: Economic history of Italy
section_title: 1861–1918
hierarchical_section_title: Economic history of Italy / 1861–1918
caption_attribution_description: Italiano: Acciaierie di Terni
context_page_description: This is a history of the economy of Italy.
  Until the end of the 16th century, Italy was prosperous relative to other parts of Europe. From the end of the 16th century, Italy stagnated relative to other parts of Europe. By the end of the 19th century, the Italian economy was less advanced than those in Western and Central Europe.
context_section_description: The economic history of Italy after 1861 can be divided in three main phases: an initial period of struggle after the unification of the country, characterised by high emigration and stagnant growth; a central period of robust catch-up from the 1890s to the 1980s, interrupted by the Great Depression of the 1930s and the two world wars; and a final period of sluggish growth that has been exacerbated by a double-deep recession following the 2008 global financial crush, and from which the country is slowly reemerging only in recent years.
caption: Terni steel mills in 1912.
exif: {}