The short-term outlook for Italy and the Government’s interventions The epidemic took hold in Italy earlier than in other European countries. Drastic social distancing measures were adopted to combat the virus and entire production sectors shut down for several weeks, which contribute nearly 30 per cent of national value added and account for around 35 per cent of total employment.
The impact has been mitigated by recourse to teleworking. Other sectors not directly affected by the containment measures were also inevitably hard hit, above all the transport sector. Italy’s GDP recorded a fall of around 5 per cent in the first quarter of 2020; the available indicators point to an even bigger decline in the second quarter.