Italian Economy Grows 0.5%

The Italian economy grew by 0.5% in the second quarter from the first-quarter figure, the official statistics institute Istat showed on Sept. 8, putting 12-month growth at 1.5 %.

The second-quarter figure signals a slight slowing from the first quarter performance when growth was 0.7%.

On a 12-month basis in the second quarter, the Italian economy grew by 1.5% after 1.6% in the first quarter.

For several years the Italian economy has been growing at a slower rate than most other leading industrialized economies. In the second quarter, growth in France was 1.1%, in Germany 0.9%, in Britain 0.8%, and in the U.S. 0.7%.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2006