Translated automatically by AI from the Italian original.
Sicily’s economy continues to grow, but at a slower pace than the rest of southern Italy and the national average. In the first half of 2026 the island’s GDP rose by 0.6% year on year, matching the rate forecast for 2025 but falling short of the figures for Italy as a whole (+0.9%) and the entire southern area (+1.0%). This is the summary picture outlined in the usual report on the conjunctural update of the Sicilian economy produced by the Bank of Italy.
“The Bank of Italy report confirms the progress made by Sicily. In the first half of 2026, GDP is up 0.6% on 2025. Employment is 12.5% higher than in 2022. Tourist overnight stays are rising, and thanks above all to public works, hours worked in construction are increasing. These are results that encourage us to continue with the policies to support businesses, investment and employment that my government has already implemented in recent years.” This was said by the President of the Sicilian Region, Renato Schifani, commenting on the data in the Bank of Italy report on Sicily presented this morning in Palermo.
“There are – he added – aspects to be strengthened, also because of international uncertainties that are fuelling inflation. To help families with their purchases we have allocated €30 million, adding a further €9 million with the recent €1.4 billion budget package, which has been in force for a few days. On employment, we had already intervened in last year’s budget law with €600 million for contribution relief for companies hiring on permanent contracts. The measures have been in force since mid-year, so their effects will be seen in the medium term.”
“The Bank of Italy report confirms that the Sicilian economy continues to grow, with a 0.6% increase in the first half of 2026, despite an international context marked by strong geopolitical tensions and rising energy costs.” This was said by the regional minister for the Economy, Alessandro Dagnino, commenting on the updated Bank of Italy data on Sicily presented today in Palermo.
The growth rate must also be read in the light of the results achieved in recent years. Between 2019 and 2024, Sicily’s GDP increased in real terms by 9.3%, compared with 5.8% nationally. And the Bank of Italy report highlights that, compared with the first half of 2022, employment in Sicily has grown by 12.5%, against the 5.6% recorded in Italy.
“The positive signals – Dagnino commented – coming from the business system, services, tourism and construction confirm the vitality of the regional economy and the need to continue with policies to strengthen competitiveness and the productive capacity of Sicily’s business system.”
Of great importance is the Bank of Italy’s call for the effects of the investments from Italy’s EU-funded recovery plan (PNRR) to be made structural. “This is precisely the direction of the economic policy – the Economy minister stressed – that we have outlined in the Nadefr 2027-2029: to complement support for demand and incomes with a strategy to strengthen supply, based on public and private investment, technological innovation and the growth of businesses. This is an approach already followed with the €1.4 billion Cohesion and Growth Act, thanks to which we expect a programmed growth scenario of 1.6% in 2027, compared with a trend of 0.5%.”
“The restoration of the regional accounts represents the foundation on which to build this new phase of Sicilian economic policy. Our challenge is not simply to keep growth positive but to steadily increase its pace, reducing the economic gap that still separates Sicily from the rest of the country,” Dagnino concluded.
