Unemployment rate in Italy 2008-2026

Italy's unemployment rate reached 7.6 percent in 2023, the lowest value since 2009.  Forecasts suggest that it will stabilize around 7.5 percent between 2024 and 2026. The regions with the highest unemployment rates were in the south. Campania, Calabria, and Sicily registered rates from 15.8 percent to 17.4 percent, a large difference when compared to the northern regions, as only 2.8 percent of residents in Trentino South-Tyrol were unemployed, the lowest share nationwide.

Young people mostly impacted

Figures about the youth unemployment rate show that the financial crisis impacted the young working population significantly. Between 2004 and 2007, the share of unemployed individuals aged 15 to 24 years was declining. Subsequently, between 2008 and 2014, the rate almost doubled. In this case, southern regions had the largest share of young people without a job. In Sicily, Campania, and Calabria, more than one third of the population aged between 15 and 24 years was unemployed in 2022. 

Women more often unemployed

In most of the Italian regions, the share of young unemployed women was higher than those of young males. In both Campania and Sicily, 50 percent of women aged 15 to 24 years did not have a job. Sicily was the region in Italy with the highest rate of unemployed young men. In this region, 51 percent of males were unemployed, almost five times more than in Trentino-South Tyrol, where the unemployment rate of young men stood at around nine percent.