La stagnant productivity it is the main problem that prevents the Italian economy from growing. The Observatory on Italian public accounts writes it in an article which analyzes the level of wages and corporate profits in our country. The starting point is the recent OECD survey according to which, from 1990 to 2020, Italy is in last place in the Eurozone for real average wage growth (i.e. adjusted for inflation).
The average real salary in Italy
If you narrow your gaze to the period 1997-2019, writes the Observatory, in Italy the average real wage decreased by 6%, "positioning itself in second-last place in the ranking of Eurozone countries ahead of Greece (-18%) and behind Spain (-2%)". The situation in Germany (+10%) and above all in France (+17%) is quite different.
The profits of Italian companies
However, the bad trend of Italian wages should not be traced back to the accumulation of profits by companies, given that corporate profits – in the same period and always net of inflation – recorded zero growth. “The Eurozone profit ranking mirrors that of wages – continues the article – with the main exceptions of Portugal, Ireland and Spain where profits have grown much more than wages”.
The problem is labor productivity
The CPI Observatory therefore notes that wages and corporate profits have increased in countries such as France and Germany, where labor productivity (i.e. GDP per employee) has grown over time. “The difference is that while in France both variables move in line with productivity, in Germany corporate profits grow more than wages”.
In reverse, "wages have gone down (and profits are stagnant) in Italy where productivity is stagnant”, concludes the article, warning however “that those considered are average values; therefore, in Italy there may be sectors where productivity and wages have increased more, or sectors where companies have increased profits at the expense of wages”.
