L'économie souterraine et clandestine vaudra plus de 218 milliards d'euros en 2024: 107,6% des revenus non déclarés.

Italy’s informal economy, encompassing both hidden and illegal activities, reached €218.2 billion in 2024, representing 9.9% of the country's gross domestic product. This marks a slight decline from the previous year’s 10.2%, according to data released by Italy’s national statistics institute, Istat, on October 16. Despite this reduction, the informal sector continues to grow in absolute terms, with the value increasing slightly compared to 2023. The informal economy consists of two main components: the shadow economy, which excludes illegal activities, and illegal activities themselves. According to Istat, the shadow economy amounted to €198.4 billion in 2024, up by €800 million from 2023. Meanwhile, the value of illegal activities fell to €19.8 billion, down from €20 billion the previous year. The number of irregular workers rose to nearly 3.3 million, an increase of over 145,000 compared to 2023, reflecting a 4.6% growth rate. Irregular employment increased across both dependent and self-employed categories. Dependent irregular jobs grew by 5.4%, adding 121,800 units, while self-employed irregular jobs rose by 2.7%, adding 23,400 units. Regular employment, however, showed slower growth, with regular dependent jobs rising by 2.9% and regular self-employed jobs declining by 1.6%. The informal economy has a more pronounced impact in certain sectors. It accounts for 30.7% of added value in other personal services, 18.5% in trade, transport, accommodation, and restaurants, and 17.7% in construction. By contrast, its share is lower in other business services at 5%, investment goods production at 4%, and intermediate goods production at 1.4%. Unreported income, a key part of the informal economy, totaled €107.6 billion in 2024, down slightly from €108.2 billion in 2023. However, the added value generated by irregular labor rose to €80.3 billion, up from €77.2 billion in 2023, indicating a 3.9% increase. Irregular labor accounted for 36.8% of the total informal economy, up from 35.5% in 2023. Illegal activities, including drug trafficking, prostitution, and tobacco smuggling, decreased slightly to €19.8 billion, or 0.9% of GDP, from €20 billion in 2023. Drug trafficking added €14.9 billion to the economy, down from €15.3 billion, while the added value from prostitution services increased to €4.2 billion from €4.1 billion. Other residual parts of the informal economy, such as undeclared rent and tips, declined by 13.1% to €10.6 billion from €12.2 billion.