DISINFO: Howl all over Italy: The Italian economy is dying without Russia

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about economic difficulties in EU countries resulting from the sanctions policy against Russia. The Italian economy has been steadily recovering after the 2008-2009 financial crisis and a decline in 2014. Since 2015, Italian GDP has increased from 1.80 to 2.07 trillion USD. This improvement is confirmed by a 2018 report from the IMF: “The Italian economy has been recovering modestly from the global financial and Euro area sovereign debt crisis.” The report also highlights progress in raising employment and labour force participation. Continuing issues with the Italian economy are due to “longstanding structural weaknesses” such as sluggish income growth, elevated unemployment, and high public debt. Tourism in Italy continues to rise. The Italian Government Tourist Board (ENIT) states that, in 2018, Italy was visited by a record 94 million tourists. In 2017, tourism to Italy grew by 2.8%. As a result, tourism is becoming more important to the Italian economy. In 2018, it added 41.3 billion EUR to the economy, equivalent to 1.5% of GDP.