ROME, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- Economic growth in Italy was stronger than expected last year, at 3.9 percent, according to official data released Tuesday.
(File photo: Xinhua)
The data from Italy's National Statistics Institute (ISTAT) provides the first full-year picture of the country's economic performance last year, a period blighted by high inflation, energy shortages, and trade problems sparked by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Although the 3.9-percent growth rate for the full year beats the forecast in the Italian government's 2022-23 economic blueprint, the 0.1 percent contraction in the fourth quarter of 2022 broke a trend of seven consecutive quarters of positive economic growth, ISTAT said.
This means that if the economy shrinks again this quarter, as widely anticipated, Italy will enter into a recession, which is defined by back-to-back quarters of negative growth.
However, despite the contraction over the last three months of the year, Italy's economy was still 1.7 percent larger than during the same period a year earlier.
