Work in Italy in 2024: the gap between North and South

In Italy in 2024, an average of 246.5 days per year was worked, however the data hides a strong territorial difference. In the North the average stood, for the CGIA, at 255 days a year, while in the South it stood at 228: a difference of 27 working days: almost an extra month every year for northern workers. Furthermore, the average daily wage reached 108 euros in the North, compared to 80 euros in the South: the differential was 36% in favor of workers in the North. Productivity in the North was 36% higher than in the South.

To understand this gap, it is necessary to consider that it is an annual number of hours compared to the number of employed people and that this lower figure is linked to the greater spread of precariousness, the more frequent use of involuntary part-time work and a significant component of seasonal work. Furthermore, the fact of the spread of undeclared work which has significant dimensions in the South is not taken into account, hours which are not counted in the official total hours. Lecco is the city with the highest average number of paid days (265.4). Then Biella (263.9), Vicenza (263.4), Monza-Brianza (263.3) and Lodi (262.8).

In the rear are Rimini (212), Nuoro (205) and Vibo Valentia (195). Among other things, explains the CGIA, according to the latest data from the Ministry of Labour, in Italy second level bargaining involves 4.2 million employees in the private sector, just 26%. Of these, 3.1 million are affected by company contracts and 1.1 million by territorial contracts.

If we analyze the top 5 Italian regions for productivity, there are Trentino A.A., Lombardy, Valle d'Aosta, Lazio and Emilia Romagna. If you instead look at the ranking of average annual gross wages, in the top 5 positions there are almost the same regions: Lombardy (30,384 euros), Emilia-Romagna (26,377), Piedmont (26,249), Veneto (25,370) and Trentino-A.A.

(25.244 ). Regarding pay slips, it emerges that, in 2024, Milan had the highest average gross salaries: 35,670 euros.

Then Monza-Brianza (29,576), Parma (28,747), Modena (28,731), Bologna (28,672), Lecco (27,788) and Reggio Emilia (27,772). On the opposite front, the lowest wages are in Crotone, where the gross annual average is 15,326 euros, followed by Cosenza (15,263) and Nuoro (15,231). The lowest value ever is recorded in Vibo Valentia with just 13,885 euros. The national average stands at 24,486 euros. In Reggio Calabria, the average annual salary - just over 17,000 euros - is less than half that of Milan (almost 35,700 euros).