For the fourth consecutive year, Southern Italy has seen growth above the national average, with Sardinia performing significantly, placing it second among the Southern regions with a positive growth rate, just behind Abruzzo.
This is what emerges from the latest Svimez report on the final data for 2025, which record a gross domestic product in the southern regions increased by 0.7%, compared to 0.5% in the Centre-North , albeit with a lower growth rate than in 2024 (when it reached 1%).
Looking at regional data, in Southern Italy (where overall GDP grew by 1%), Abruzzo stands out, as mentioned (+1.9%), followed by Sardinia, which recorded a +1.1% increase, partly driven by the strong performance of industry (+3.4%). After the latter, the largest percentage of added value for the island's economy was determined by agriculture (+1.5%) , followed by construction (+1%) and services (+0.6%) . All sectors are positive, therefore, with overall regional GDP growth of 12.3% in the period 2022-2025 , despite the island suffering an 11.4% drop in exports last year, which in absolute value amounted to almost 5.9 billion euros.
For the agency, the consecutive growth in the South over the four-year period represents a result "not seen since the postwar economic boom," even though the country as a whole is growing less than the EU average. In 2025, Italian GDP increased by only 0.5% , down from the previous year's increase (+0.8%), and, for the second consecutive year, below the EU-27 average (+1.5%).
