ROME, May 28 (Xinhua) -- Poverty indicators improved in Italy in 2013 and the number of "seriously deprived" families fell, the annual report by National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) showed on Wednesday.
The ISTAT data indicated that the number of "seriously deprived" families fell by 1 million, decreasing to 12.5 percent of Italy's total population from 14.5 percent in the previous year.
At the same time, social imbalances persisted and an increasing flow of educated young people emigrated for economic reasons during the crisis. Around 9,400 Italians between the ages of 15 and 34 left the country since 2008, while it was 26,000 in 2012 only, ISTAT said.
"The number of Italians emigrating in 2012 was the highest in a decade," Lower House Speaker Laura Boldrini pointed out, while presenting the report at the Chamber of Deputies.
"It is crucial for our young people to acquire new experiences abroad. Our problem is that Italy does not attract foreign talents and young Italians abroad don't feel they would have good opportunities if they return home," Boldrini added.
ISTAT report summarizes every year Italy's main social, economic and demographic trends. As such, it is accounted as a most comprehensive picture on the "state of the nation".
Analyzing the last dossier, authorities sounded concerned for Italy being still unable to take full advantage of a "timid' recovery" and tackle its deepest structural imbalances.
"The picture of the nation emerging from ISTAT report is still worrying," the Lower House speaker declared.
Yet, ISTAT president Antonio Golini recalled some encouraging signals also emerged and not only regarding poverty.
Consumers' and manufacturers' confidence climate indexes were on the rise in latest months, Golini cited as examples, and Italian exports exceeded imports by 30.4 billion euros (41.3 billion U.S. dollars) in 2013 compared to the previous year. According to data, it was the highest trade surplus since 1996.
"Globalisation is most crucial for our future growth, and Italian exporting enterprises proved to be much more efficient than the others," ISTAT president said.
Three companies out of 10 in Italy started again to hire between 2011 and 2013. "These top performers were companies operating in international markets, and investing in innovation," Golini added.
The positive trend had an overall poor influence on the job market, however, and unemployment remained at a record 12.7 percent rate in the first three months of 2014, with a 42.7 percent peak among youths.
Income inequalities between 2011 and 2013 also remained high, ISTAT said. The available income of the top earning 20 percent of households was 5.5 to 5.6 times higher than that of the poorest 20 percent.
"These inequalities are bound to sharpen, if we do not act quickly," Boldrini warned. "We cannot have one of the lowest level of resources allocated for family in Europe, not in a country where families play such a crucial role at a social public level," she added.
Indeed, families with children were counted by ISTAT among those most likely to shrink below the "poverty line". Around 530,000 parents lost their jobs between 2008 and 2013, data showed, and male workers especially.
Main macro-economic indicators were confirmed by the report, with the gross domestic product (GDP) expected to increase by 0.6 percent in 2014.
Finally, ISTAT focused on the magnitude of austerity policies during the crisis. Italy was among the most rigorous countries in the European Union (EU), the report said, with fiscal measures amounting to 182 billion euros (247 billion U.S. dollars) in the last three years.
"Unlike almost all the other EU countries, Italy implemented only restrictive policies between 2007 and 2012, and it registered the highest primary surplus in 2013, equal to more than 2 percent of GDP," ISTAT added.（本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑） |