Istat data published. Puglia: + 26 thousand employed and exports growing in 2023. Emiliano and Delli Noci: "Positive signs, but we are working to improve: six warnings are active"

Puglia continues to grow also in 2023. With 26 thousand more employed compared to 2022 and with an export value of 10.155 billion euros, it once again confirms its dynamism. This is confirmed by Istat in the latest published reports and in the updating of the database.

These numbers add to the excellent performance of 2022. The employed, equal to 1,267 million in that year, become 1,293 million in 2023. The employment rate rises to 50.7%, recording an increase in the year of 3% compared to 2022 and 4.4% compared to 2019, before the pandemic, wars and high energy prices. A value, that of Puglia, which is also significant in the panorama of Southern Italy in which the 2023 employment rate, although growing compared to the previous year, does not exceed 48.2%. The unemployment rate in Puglia is also decreasing (by 0.5 compared to 2022 and by 3.3 points compared to 2019) which stands at 11.6% compared to 14% in the South and comforting signs for the inactive people who are decreasing by 24 thousand units in the year 2023 compared to the previous year, lowering the relative rate by 1.2 percentage points. An important sign of dynamism (the inactive are not employed and are not looking for work), which improves compared to 2019 by as much as 2.9 percentage points.

Still standing out in the national panorama is the case of the city of Bari which, among the large municipalities examined by Istat, with its 118 thousand employed, ranks first in the South and ninth in Italy with an employment rate of 57.5 %, which, in 2023, rises by 2.8 percentage points compared to 2022 and by 4.2 compared to 2019.

Positive numbers also for Apulian exports. The sustained growth of the last three months of 2023 recovered the decline of previous quarters, leading to an increase over the year of 1.4 percentage points. In absolute terms, Puglia's performance on foreign markets is worth 10.155 billion euros compared to 10.014 billion in 2022. Puglia is the third region in the South, after Campania and Sicily, in terms of overall export value.

“The strength of Puglia, which has resisted pandemics, wars, high energy prices, after also overcoming a global financial crisis - underlined the president of the Puglia Region, Michele Emiliano - is the response of an entire system at work. There were our industrial policies, but there was also the response of companies, the contribution of the partnership, of the world of professions, of the banking and financial context, the talent of young people and the research system that actively collaborated for the process and product innovation. Seeing the growth in employment and the strength of Puglia on foreign markets in recent years is astonishing. The main merit of our policies is having brought forces together, pushing them to collaborate. These numbers encourage us to continue on this path."

“In a difficult context like the one we are experiencing on a global level - commented the councilor for economic development of the Puglia Region Alessandro Delli Noci - Puglia's growth, which continues despite everything, represents a positive sign for us. It promotes the policies adopted, but it is not our goal. It is an incentive to intensify work to do better. We want to bring home the young people who have left, offering them good jobs in the companies that we are helping to grow, especially in innovation; we want to continue to attract foreign investments and those from other Italian regions, to consolidate and intensify Puglia's competitiveness on international markets. The work done to date has contributed to the growth of exports which, after exceeding 10 billion euros, continue to grow, surpassing the pre -pandemic value of 2019 by 13.3%. And it has contributed to generating 41 thousand 600 additional jobs produced only with the facilitation tools of the 2014-2020 cycle managed by Puglia Sviluppo. Today we look at the new programming with six alerts already active which have an initial and overall budget of 260 million euros. The hope is to multiply these numbers in terms of investments generated and impacts on the territory".

Among the sectors that are growing the most on foreign markets are the products of the extraction of minerals from quarries and mines (+229.4%); food, beverage and tobacco products (+15.7%); paper and paper products, printing products and reproduction of recorded media (+8.4%); computers and electronic and optical devices (+6%); machines and appliances (+14.3%); means of transport (+6.8%); motor vehicles (+16.6%).

Also worth highlighting is the sustained growth of Puglia, particularly in non-EU countries: +21.9%; The value of exports to EU countries is also increasing: +10%.