Government at a Glance 2017

Country Fact Sheetwww.oecd.org/gov/govataglance.htm

Fiscal balances have improved, yet government debt levels remain high

Fiscal consolidation brought the deficit down from 5.3% of GDP in 2009 to 2.7% of GDP in 2015, close to the OECD average of 2.8%. However, the effects of the double-dip recessions in 2009 and 2012 have been reflected in government gross debt levels, which remain persistently high in Italy, reaching 157.5% of GDP in 2015 according to the System of National Accounts definition – the third largest gross debt level among OECD countries- as compared to an average of 112% of GDP across the OECD countries.

Chapter 2. Public finance and economics

General government fiscal balance as a percentage of GDPGeneral government debt as a percentage of GDP

Italy has carried out several comprehensive spending reviewsto help prioritize public expenditures

In order to make sure that government expenditure is allocated to the priorities of the country in the face of fiscal consolidation, Italy has carried out six comprehensive spending reviews between 2008 and 2016, which has helped the government navigate through fiscal tightening with better evidence at its disposal.

Chapter 5. Budgeting practices and procedures

Frequency and scope of spending reviews

Italy has the highest proportion of central government employees aged 55 or older

The share of Italy’s central government workforce aged over 55 years is close to 45%, compared to the 24% average across the OECD countries. Italy also has the lowest share of young people working for the central government, where only 2% workers are between 18 and 34 years old. This calls for careful workforce plan-ning that will ensure that the mass retirement of employees will not result in loss of institutional memory and will not affect the quality of public services.

Chapter 3. Public employment and pay

Percentage of central government employees aged 55 years or olderShare of people employed in the central government by age group

Italy

Fiscal balance*(2015, 2016)

Government expenditures(2015, 2016)

Government gross debt*(2015, 2016)

% of GDP % of GDP % of GDP

Source: OECD National Accounts Source: OECD National Accounts

G@G /dataG@G /data

26134,500

88,70052,700

Middle Managers(D3 positions)

Senior Managers(D1 positions)

SeniorProfessionals

SecretarialPositions

2015USD PPP

150,000

300,000

450,000

231,500

55,600

Italy

67,900

172,500

395,400

Annual compensation across central government positions* (2015)

Government investment(2015, 2016)

How to read the figures:

Italy

Country value in blue (not represented if not available)

Average of OECD countries in red

Range of OECD country values in grey

Public Finance and Economics

10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

24.9%45.4%

Italy

20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

2015

40.9%

49.6%2016

50.5%2015

Italy

2015

3.2%

2.1%2016

2.3%2015

0% 2% 4% 6% 8%

Italy

157.5%2015

156.4% 100%

0%

2016

112%100%

0%

2015

0% 50% 100% 150% 200% 250%

Italy

Values have been rounded. n.a. refers to

data not available

% of GDP

Public Employment

Source: OECD (2016) Survey on the Composition of the workforce in Central/federal Governments

* The level of compensation for senior managers is maximized by law and as a result, their compensation has been reduced substantially compared to 2011. Source: OECD (2016) Survey on the compensation of employees in central / federal governments

... and in senior positions (2015)

Source: OECD* See Notes National Accounts

Source: OECD* SNA definition, see Notes National Accounts

Public Sector Compensation

53.0%52.4%Italy

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

32.4%33.4%Italy

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Women in the civil service ...

Source: OECD (2016) Survey on the Composition of the workforce in Central/federal Governments

Percentage of central government employees aged 55 years or older

(2015)

General government employmentas % of total employment (2015)

18.1%

13.6%Italy

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

Source: OECD National Accounts

-10% 0%-5% +5% +10%

-2.8%

Italy2016

-2.4% -2.7%

2015

2015

Budgeting

Women in Government

Extent of delegationof HRM practicesin line ministries

0.77

0.64

Extent of the useof performance

assessmentsin HR decisions

0.70

0.64

Extent of the useof performance

related pay

0.78

0.66

Use of separateHRM practices

for seniorcivil servants

0.58 0.55

Collectionof administrative

data

0.77 0.68

Composite indexfrom 0 lowest to 1 highest

0

0.25

0.50

0.75

1

Italy

G@G /data

Source: OECD (2016) Strategic Human Resources Management Survey

Composite indicators on HRM practices in central government (2016)

Human Resource Management

Composite indices on regulatory governance for primary laws*(2014)

G@G /data

Regulatory governance

0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

29.1%

50%

20.5%

Italy

Source: OECD National Accounts

General governmentprocurement expenditures

(2015)% of government expenditures

Public Procurement

Support for greenpublic procurement

Some procuring entities have developed an internal strategy/policy

A strategy/policy has been developed at a central level

Support forSMEs

Support for innovativegoods and services

A strategy/policy has been rescinded

There has never been a strategy/policy in place

11 25 1 0 8 24 0 1 9 19 0 6

Italy

Strategic public procurement - Objectives(2016)

Source: OECD (2016) Survey on Public Procurement

* See Notes Source: OECD Indicators of Regulatory Policy and Governance (iREG)

0.41

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

0.27Italy

Composite indexfrom 0 lowest to 1 highest

Performance budgetingpractices at the central level

of government (2016)

Source: OECD (2016) Survey of Performance Budgeting

Stakeholderengagement in

developing regulations

1.43

2.09

Regulatory ImpactAssessment for

developing regulations

1.69 2.05

Ex post evaluationof regulations

1.45 1.54

Composite indexfrom 0 lowest to 4 highest

0

0.25

0.50

0.75

1

Italy

Notes Fiscal balance as reported in the System of National Accounts (SNA) framework, also referred to as net lending (+) or net borrowing (-) of government, is calculated as total government revenues minus total government expenditures. Regulatory governance indicators: The results for stakeholder engagement and Regulatory Impact Assessment apply exclusively to processes for developing primary laws initiated by the executive. Data is not applicable to the United States, where all primary laws are initiated by Congress. In the majority of countries, most primary laws are initiated by the executive, except for Mexico and Korea, where a higher share of primary laws are initiated by parliament/congress (respectively 90.6% and 84%). Government gross debt is reported according to the SNA definition, which dif fers from the definition applied under the Maastricht Treaty. It is defined as all liabilities that require payment or payments of interest or principal by the debtor to the creditor at a date or dates in the future. All debt instruments are liabilities, but some liabilities such as shares, equity and financial derivatives are not debt.

Open Data Digital Government

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

35.6%12.0%

Italy

Individuals using the Internet for sending filled forms via public authorities websites

in the past 12 months (2016)

Source: OECD, ICT database; and Eurostat, Information Society database

OURdata Index:Open, Useful, Reusable Government Data

(2017)Composite index: from 0 lowest to 1 highest

Source: OECD (2017) Survey on Open Government Data

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

0.52

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

0.55

Italy

Dataavailability

Dataaccessibility

Governmentsupportto re-use

Differences in income inequality pre and post-taxand government transfers (2013)

Italy

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6Higher

inequality

Lowerinequality

Before After

0.52

0.33taxes and transfers

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

Before After

0.47

0.32taxes and transfers

Higherinequality

Lowerinequality

Source: OECD Income Distribution Database

Limited government powers (2016)

0.75

0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1

0.70Italy

Source: The World Justice Project

Core Government ResultsSatisfaction and confidence across public services

(2016)

70%

Judicial system Education system

49%20

40

60

80

100

Health care

67%55%55%24%

National government42%24%

Italy

Average

Range

Police77%74%

Source: Gallup World Poll

% of citizens expressing confidence/satisfaction

Government at a Glance 2017Government at a Glance provides readers with a dashboard of key indicators assembled with the goal of contributing to the analysis and international

comparison of public sector productivity and performance. Indicators on government revenues, expenditures, and employment are presented,

alongside key output and outcome data for education, health and justice. Information on key enablers to increase productivity including on digital

government, budget procedures, strategic human resource management, open government data and innovative practices are also included. In

a context of tight budget constraints in many member countries, good indicators are needed more than ever, in order to help governments make

informed decisions regarding resource allocation and to help restore confidence in government institutions.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/gov_glance-2017-en

The Excel spreadsheets used to create the tables and figures in Government at a Glance 2017 are available via the StatLinks provided throughout the publication:

For more information on the data (including full methodology and figure notes)and to consult all other Country Fact Sheets: www.oecd.org/gov/govataglance.htm