5 Largest Economies in Europe

3. Italy

5Y avg GDP (2017-2021): $2011.5 billion

5Y avg GDP growth rate (2017-2021): 0.142%

Italy has 5.2 million foreign inhabitants as of January 1, 2022, including from inside the EU and outside the EU, placing it slightly over the average for all of Europe (8.4 percent). Spain (11.3%) and Germany (12.7 percent) are next. The increase in the foreign population has slowed down in recent years as a result of the flow decree, which limits immigration into Italy, as well as the significant number of new citizenships granted.

Due to a lack of skilled people in some sectors, the Ministry of Internal Affairs declared, in 2022, that it would shortly publish a new regulation that will generate 75,000 quota places for work permits. This is more than the previous number of 69,700 quota spaces available in 2021–2022. Since highly skilled workers are exempt from obtaining a quota, this decree will benefit unskilled workers, startup visa applications, and foreign nationals converting existing Italian permits to work permits. Employers will also benefit from the chance to hire more foreign workers to fill skills gaps.

By November 2022, Enel had over 53.92 billion dollars in market value, making it the biggest firm in Italy. With market capitalizations of around 52 and 43 billion dollars, ENI and Intesa Sanpaolo were the second and third-largest firms, respectively.