Italy has had the strongest growth in real household income per capita of all G7 countries in the first quarter of 2024, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reports.
Households in Italy saw their wages in real terms increase by 3.4 per cent in the first three months of the year according to data published August 12.
The OECD said that the increase “is driven by a rise in compensation of employees and social transfers in kind,” meaning Italians on average have had a higher income rise by percentage than other G7 nations, boosting their purchasing power.
Real wage growth in Italy is now almost seven times greater than the G7 average and more than triple the OECD countries’ average real household income per capita increase of 0.9 per cent.
Italy’s performance far surpassed Germany’s 1.4 per cent growth — up from a previous quarter of 0.1 per cent growth — and France’s 0.6 per cent increase.
Canada saw a moderate increase in real household income per capita (0.6 per cent), up from minus 0.2 per cent in the previous quarter, but real GDP per capita there fell for the fourth consecutive quarter.
The UK and the US saw milder real income increases of 0.3 per cent and 0.2 per cent, respectively.
Under Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing government, Italy has approved legislative reforms with significant updates to its taxation rules.
Responding to the latest OECD data, Meloni posted on X: “This result, well above the OECD average of 0.9 per cent, is also the result of the government’s policies that have focused most of the available resources on renewing contracts, increasing pensions, supporting wages through cutting the contributory wedge and reducing the Irpef [personal income tax], and strengthening social transfers in kind.
“There is still a lot to be done, but these signs tell us that we are on the right track. Let us continue to work with determination for an increasingly just and prosperous Italy.”
COMMENT: Don’t count Meloni out, Italy’s leader is playing the long game, writes @ConradMBlack. https://t.co/BojDZn18wX
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) May 2, 2024
