Official figures show that the number of Italians who are in a grave economic condition has increased to an alarming point, Press TV reports.
Italy’s National Statistics Institute, ISTAT, said in a newly released report that at the end of 2012, around 15 million people were dealing with some form of economic hardship.
The report added that over 8.5 million of those people were living in a seriously tough economic situation. The figure has doubled compared to 2010.
Recession in Italy has taken a heavy toll on ordinary Italians who are increasingly digging into their savings.
The latest figures also showed that in 2012 more than 16 percent of Italians were unable to afford an adequate protein-rich meal every two days.
Meanwhile, Italy’s consumers association Federconsumatori has warned that about nine million Italians have given up their health care due to economic hardships.
An Italian resident in Rome told Press TV, “Because Italians always put a brave face on things, on the surface everything is fine, everybody’s brave and they like to present a nice face to the world. But inside… things are very difficult.”
Italy started to experience recession after its economy contracted by 0.2 percent in the third quarter of 2011, and by 0.7 percent in the fourth quarter of the same year.
Over the past decade, Italy has been the slowest growing economy in the eurozone.
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