Page 29 - Investing in Bergamo EN

10

INCOME AND ITS DISTRIBUTION

The latest available data shows that the value added by the province (GDP,
excluding amortisation) was 30,500 euros. The contribution of industry was 39%,
that of trade together with real estate activities was 31%, with innovative and
technological services equal to 19%.
The per capita income (28 thousand) was much lower than that of Milan (47 thousand)
and Rome (35 thousand) but within the group of high-income Northern territories, it
was ranked 16th with only 5 provinces in front that were not regional capitals, higher
than the nearby Brescia, and Turin.
Total productivity (value added per employee) was 63.9 euros in a ranking where
Bergamo is in 10th place in Italy, a difference of around 20% from Milan. In industry,
total factor productivity is 64.3 thousand euros; in the innovative and technological
services, it is 55.6 thousand euros, which is in line with a more developed Italy, and far
behind Milan (85.7 thousand).
Since 2001, income increased by more than 21%, even though the 2008 crisis blocked
a path of development and growth that had continued uninterruptedly for 15 years.
Increased productivity accounts for three-quarters of the greater wealth acquired in the
last decade in all sectors.
Italy generally has a rather balanced distribution of income because welfare coming
from a very intense fiscal pressure provides many services with a guaranteed and
universal offer. Bergamo is no exception and has a very balanced distribution of wealth.
This is measured, at an international level, by the Gini index which can vary from zero
(where everyone has the same resources) to 1 where one person has all the income.
In practice, the range of variation is from 0.25 to 0.60. In Bergamo (data processed by
Confindustria Bergamo from 2012 data of the Italian Revenue Agency) is equal to 0.29.
It is one of the lowest rates in the OECD area (Chile=0.50, USA=0.39, Japan=0.34,
Italy=0.32) not too far from Northern European and in line with Germany.
The comparison is significant because statistics seem to highlight that a better
distribution of income is typical of areas with a higher concentration of manufacturing
activities, which applies to all the most industrialised provinces of Italy. The Gini index is
very low in industrial territories with a predominance of medium-sized tech industries,
which express the best balance between the growth of productivity and employment;
while labour-intensive sectors have a more controlled per capita added value and high-
level technologies generate lower demand for labour per unit of output.