Istat puts the total at 218.2 billion euros in 2024, up 0.3% from 217.6 billion, while its share of GDP fell to 9.9% from 10.2%.
Irregular full-time equivalent units rose by more than 145,000 in 2024, with irregular employee units up 5.4% against 1.6% growth in regular work.
Illegal activities fell 0.9% to 19.8 billion euros, while the non-observed economy reaches 30.7% of value added in other personal services.
Istat, Italy's national statistics institute, puts the non-observed economy at 218.2 billion euros in 2024, up 0.3% from 217.6 billion in 2023. Current-price GDP grew 3.2% over the same year, so the weight of the non-observed economy fell to 9.9% of GDP from 10.2%. Istat released the figures on Friday, 16 October 2026.
Data from the article text
The underground economy, which covers undeclared work and under-reported revenue and costs, accounted for 198.4 billion euros, or 0.8 billion more than a year earlier. Illegal activities fell 0.9% to 19.8 billion euros over the same period. The report puts the illegal component's share of the non-observed economy at 9.1%, a point below its 2021 level.
Data from the article text
Irregular work is the component pulling the total upward. Istat counts 3.277 million full-time equivalent units (ULA) in irregular positions in 2024, of which 2.396 million are employees, an increase of more than 145,000 units or 4.6% on 2023. Irregular employee units rose 5.4%, or 121.8 thousand, while irregular self-employed units rose 2.7%, or 23.4 thousand. Regular work grew 1.6% over the same year, with regular employees up 2.9% and regular self-employed down 1.6%. The value added from irregular labour rose 3.9%, about 3.1 billion euros, and its share of the non-observed economy reached 36.8%, up from 35.5%. Istat defines irregular positions as those that breach tax or social contribution rules, along with illegal activities that cannot be observed directly through firms, institutions or administrative sources.
Data from the article text
Il Fatto Quotidiano, working from the same Istat series, puts irregular units at 2.98 million in 2021 and says they were stable in 2022 before rising to 3.13 million in 2023. Measured against 2022, the paper counts 298,000 more irregular units in 2024 and a rise in the undeclared rate from 12.5% to 13.1%. It argues that the abolition of the citizenship income (reddito di cittadinanza) by the Meloni government did not curb undeclared work, although it acknowledges the figures do not prove a causal link. According to the paper, the government obtained at the end of 2023, while renegotiating Italy's Recovery plan (PNRR) with Brussels, the removal of a pledge to cut irregular work by 2 percentage points against 2020. That pledge was replaced by commitments on inspections, employment centres and a national portal.
Istat data show the non-observed economy reaches 30.7% of value added in other personal services, followed by trade, transport, accommodation and catering at 18.5% and construction at 17.7%. In agriculture, irregular labour alone accounts for 15.2% of sector value added, while irregular labour in industry ranges between 0.9% and 2.8%. Undeclared tips and rents fell 13.1%, or 1.6 billion euros. Drug trafficking added 14.9 billion euros in value, 0.4 billion less than in 2023, while prostitution services rose 2.8% to 4.2 billion euros. Cigarette smuggling remained marginal, at 0.6 billion euros of value added or 3.1% of illegal activity.
Francesco Seghezzi, president of Adapt, said the numbers should prompt a focus on working conditions as well as headcount.
“It is a signal that should push us to look not only at the number of people employed, but also at the conditions in which they work.”
The Cgil union, by contrast, called for a change of course in economic policy.
“The figures certify the failure of the strategy pursued by the government over these years. A radical change is needed.”
Istat's report uses 2024 as the reference year for every figure cited here.
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Istat's report on the non-observed economy shows irregular work rising 4.6% in 2024 to 3.277 million units, even as the sector's share of GDP fell to 9.9%.
AI text based on reports by il Giornale.it, ANSA.it, Rai news and other publishers. Published .