OECD Territorial Reviews: Italy 2001

Italy's economic development has been characterised by marked regional disparities, most notably between the Centre-North and the South. Today, Italy demonstrates one of the widest geographical dualisms among OECD Member countries. In the Southern regions, the unemployment rate is still four times higher than in the Centre-North despite recent signs of dynamism. The infrastructure endowment of the South remains far below the national average and organised crime still constitutes a heavy deterren