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Graphic shows absolute poverty rate in Italy from 2006 to 2016.
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ECONOMY

Italy’s poor almost triple in a decade

By Jordi Bou

July 14, 2017 - Italians living below the level of absolute poverty almost tripled over the last decade, hitting 4.7 million last year, up from 1.7m in 2006, as the country went through a double-dip, record-long recession.

Italy emerged from a prolonged recession in 2014, during which more than a quarter of the nation’s industrial production was wiped out. Between 2008 and 2013, unemployment also rose, with the rate rising to as high as 13 percent in 2014 from a low of 5.7 percent in 2007.

The national statistics bureau (Istat) defines absolute poverty as the condition of those who are unable to buy goods and services “essential to avoid grave forms of social exclusion”.

The Istat report showed that the number of absolute poor rose last year in younger groups, reaching 10 percent in the group of those between 18 and 34 years old. It fell among seniors to 3.8 percent in the age group of 65 and older.

Sources
PUBLISHED: 14/07/2017; STORY: Graphic News; PICTURES: Getty Images
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