Overview
- Brussels has formally adopted Italy’s revised recovery plan, keeping the €194.4 billion PNRR on track and paving the way for an expected €12.8 billion eighth tranche in the coming days.
- Svimez reports the Mezzogiorno added roughly 500,000 jobs from 2021 to 2024, an 8% rise driven by PNRR works, construction incentives and tourism, including about 100,000 new under‑35 positions.
- Despite the boom, 175,000 residents aged 25–34 left the South between 2022 and 2024, about half with degrees, with Svimez estimating an annual human-capital loss near €8 billion.
- Living standards have deteriorated: Southern real wages fell about 10.2% since 2021 and the share of working poor reached 19.4% in 2024, with 1.2 million laboring poor in the South.
- Industrial signals are mixed: Southern manufacturing value added rose about 13.6% and the ZES Unica sped 865 authorizations worth €3.7 billion, yet Svimez sees growth outpacing the Center‑North only through 2026 before slowing in 2027 as public investment wanes.