The underground economy is increasing and the illegal sector will be worth 218.2 billion in 2024

In 2024 the value of the unobserved economy, mainly the whole of the underground and illegal activities, is equal to 218.2 billion, an increase of 0.3% compared to 2023, compared to a current GDP growth of 3.2%. Its incidence on GDP fell to 9.9% from 10.2% the previous year with a reduction of 0.3 percentage points.

Istat indicates this. The underground economy stands at 198.4 billion (+0.8 billion compared to the previous year), while the value of illegal activities drops to 19.8 billion.

Irregular work is still growing: in 2024, there will be 3 million 277 thousand full-time work units (AWUs) in irregular conditions, of which 2 million 396 thousand units are employed as employees. Compared to 2023, irregular work increases by 4.6%, equal to over 145 thousand units. Non-regular work grows in the employee component (+5.4%, +121.8 thousand units) and in the independent component (+2.7%, +23.4 thousand units). The value of the underground economy due to under-declaration and irregular work in 2024 is 187.8 billion (+2.4 billion compared to 2023), ISTAT also indicates, adding that the incidence of the two components on the GDP is reduced to 8.5%.

In 2024, drug trafficking recorded a slight reduction: the added value fell to 14.9 billion euros (-0.4 billion compared to 2023), while consumer spending stood at 16.8 billion (-0.4 billion compared to 2023). In the same period, prostitution services show moderate growth: added value and final consumption both increase by 2.8%, reaching 4.2 billion and 5.0 billion respectively. Cigarette smuggling activity remains marginal and, out of all illegal activities, represents a share equal to 3.1% of added value (0.6 billion euros) and 3.2% of family consumption (0.7 billion euros).