Solo 22 out of 107 provinces have left behind the crisis caused by Covid in 2021, exceeding the wealth produced in 2019 at current values, more than half are in Campania and Sicily. These are the data that emerge from the analysis carried out by the Tagliacarne Study Center and Unioncamere on the provincial added value of 2021 and the comparisons with 2019.
The tops and the flops
The greatest growth in terms of added value was recorded at Enna, which marked a +2,9%, against the national average of -1,2%. But Milano with 49.332 euros each, it confirms itself in first place for per capita product income. Terni it is the province that climbs the highest number of positions in the ranking of per capita added value, going from 70th to 62nd place. Avellino and Lecco also made a comeback, recovering four ranks, placing themselves respectively in 86th and 27th place.
Between 2021 and 2019 recovery difficulties are found in particular along all the provinces bordered by the Adriatic Sea (-1,8%), in Tuscany (-2,4%) and in the Triveneto (-2,3%). From a sectoral point of view, on the other hand, it is above all the construction sector, thanks to government support measures, that marks the highest increases in added value (+12,6%), with peaks exceeding 30% in Umbria and largely of Sicily. The manufacturing industry is also growing which, even if it is only close to 2%, contributes significantly to the recovery given its weight on the economy. On the other hand, it is the services sector (-2,7%) that is having more difficulty, which is weighed down by the difficult comeback of activities connected to tourism (-27,2%) with negative effects especially on metropolitan cities.
“Covid has reshuffled the country's productive geography. In fact, we are recording the crisis of the traditional Adriatic direction of development and the relaunch of the Tyrrhenian one, a differentiation of growth phenomena in the South, difficulties in various areas of the Triveneto and the strengthening of the province's performances compared to those of the large metropolitan centres". This is what the emphasizes president of Unioncamere, Andrea Prete, according to which "if the provinces with higher industrial density have shown greater resistance than the others, the fact remains that this dynamism was not enough to bring the pre-pandemic levels back in a territorially widespread manner".
Construction and manufacturing
As far as the 'building, it is Terni that recorded a growth boom (+42%), followed by Perugia (+39,8%) and Messina (+37,6%). "In general, Umbria and Sicily show trends clearly above the national average with growth rates above 30%, with the exception of Caltanissetta and Syracuse which however show increases between 27 and 28%", underlines the report. Overall, all the Italian provinces show a positive trend, except Pordenone (-6,7%), Udine (-2,5%) and the autonomous provinces of Bolzano (-0,5%) and Trento (-0,8% ).
Passing instead to the manufacturing, the best performances were recorded in the North-West (+2,7%) and in the Islands (+2,3%) and to a lesser extent in the Center (+1,8%) and the North-East (1,5% ). On the other hand, the South closes on a par. Among the provinces, La Spezia (+16,1%), Genoa (+12,4%) and Teramo (+11,9%) lead the ranking for growth in added value produced by the industry.
Services still in trouble
The service sector is still struggling, which loses 2,9% of added value between 2021 and 2019. Slowing down the pace is the difficulty of recovering tourism which is still a quarter below the pre-Covid period. But also artistic and creative activities (-25%) and those supporting businesses (-11,8%) still show significant delays. Two activities that have their beating heart in big cities such as Milan and Rome, losing 3,1% and 2,1% respectively.
On the opposite side, the only ones nine provinces that exceeded the levels of added value produced by the tertiary sector in 2019 are all from the South, with the exception of Frosinone. Campania in particular stands out for the positive results achieved, with Avellino (+2,7%), Benevento (+1,8%), Caserta (+1,7%) and Salerno (0,8%) occupying the first four places of the best performing provinces.
