Italy’s black economy worth 12.6 percent of GDP

Rome, Oct 11 (IANS/AKI) Italy's black economy was worth some 208 billion euros in 2015 - an amount equivalent to 12.6 percent of the country's GDP, figures from the central statistics agency showed.

Off-the-books transactions in Italy amounted to just over 190 billion euros in 2015 while illegal activities were worth a further 17 billion euros, according to the data issued by Istat - the latest available.

The value of the black economy registered a "sharp decrease" in 2015 when it rose from 12.7 percent to 13.1 percent of GDP, Istat reported.

The sectors where there was most under-the-counter activity in 2015 were commerce, transport, accommodation and building as well as domestic and agricultural work, forestry and fishing, and professional services.

The highest-value sectors of the illegal economy in 2015 were drug trafficking (11.8 billion euros) and prostitution (3.6 billion euros), while connected transport and storage activities accounted for 1.3 billion euros, Istat said.

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