ITA · snapshot 2026-08-09

Italy

Low

Overall risk score

29.7

Percentile of scored universe

21th

Data coverage

94%

vs Australia (16.1)

+13.6

Category breakdown

Political Stability & Governance

Medium
32.4+19.6 vs AU

6 indicators · 100% coverage

Economic Resilience

High
40.2+29.1 vs AU

6 indicators · 85% coverage

Financial & Currency Risk

Low
5.9+0.0 vs AU

5 indicators · 100% coverage

Business Environment

Medium
42.2+7.3 vs AU

3 indicators · 75% coverage

Security & Crime

Medium
33.3+8.2 vs AU

4 indicators · 100% coverage

Climate & Social Compliance

Low
25.9+15.5 vs AU

4 indicators · 100% coverage

Technology & Digital

Medium
27.1+13.4 vs AU

4 indicators · 100% coverage

Cultural Distance

Very High
61.5+60.6 vs AU

9 indicators · 100% coverage · not in overall score

Key risks and considerations

Italy rates Low for market entry — an overall risk score of 29.7, less risky than 79% of rated economies and 14 points riskier than Australia.

The main risk drivers are no investment-treaty protection with Australia and pervasive organised crime (6.4/10).

Relative strengths: sovereign credit risk, inflation, DFAT smartraveller advisory level all rate Low, the least-risky rating band.

Possible mitigations

  • Organised crime. Expect extortion, counterfeiting, and cargo-theft exposure: harden supply-chain security, vet logistics partners and distributors carefully, and avoid cash-heavy channels.
  • Payment fraud. Experts nominate this market as a cybercrime origin (World Cybercrime Index, 2021 survey): verify any change of bank details out-of-band, enforce MFA and dual authorisation on payments, and be sceptical of unsolicited counterparties.
  • Cultural bridging. Large cultural distance: invest in local partners, bilingual advisers, and longer relationship-building timelines — assume negotiation and management norms differ materially.

Generated automatically from this snapshot’s indicator data — a starting point for analysis, not advice.

Indicators

IndicatorValueRisk scoreRating
Political Stability & Governance
Voice & accountability (WGI)75.514.9Low
Government effectiveness (WGI)66.722.2Low
Regulatory quality (WGI)65.025.6Medium
Rule of law (WGI)67.627.3Medium
Control of corruption (WGI)59.129.7Medium
Political stability & absence of violence/terrorism (WGI PV)71.242.8Medium
Economic Resilience
GDP growth (3-yr average, %)0.7% (3-yr avg)50.0High
Growth volatility (10-yr std dev, pp)±4.4 pp67.5High
Government net debt (% of GDP)127.765.0High
Inflation (CPI %, vs income-group target)1.510.0Low
Current account (3-yr average, % of GDP)0.8% (3-yr avg)15.0Low
FX reserves (months of import cover)Insufficient data
GDP per capita (PPP, current intl $)$62,80317.8Low
Financial & Currency Risk
Capital-account openness (Chinn-Ito KAOPEN)1.005.0Low
Currency stability (regime-aware classification)Floating — low volatility (<8%)15.0Low
Sovereign credit risk (OECD country risk classification)Category 0 / 72.0Low
FATF listing (grey / black list status)Not listed0.0Low
Double-tax agreement with AustraliaIn force0.0Low
Business Environment
FDI regulatory restrictiveness (OECD FDIRRI)0.0749.1Medium
Logistics performance (World Bank LPI)3.714.9Low
Business readiness (World Bank B-READY pillar average)Insufficient data
Investment protection with Australia in force (BIT or FTA investment chapter)None in force100.0Very High
Security & Crime
Armed-conflict intensity (battle deaths per 100k, 5-yr)0.029.7Medium
Intentional homicide rate (per 100k)0.610.0Low
Organised crime pervasiveness (GI-TOC criminality score)6.479.4Very High
DFAT Smartraveller advisory levelLevel 1 — Exercise normal safety precautions10.0Low
Climate & Social Compliance
Physical climate vulnerability (ND-GAIN vulnerability)0.35718.2Low
Disaster risk (INFORM Risk Index)3.036.9Medium
Modern-slavery prevalence (per 1,000)3.323.4Low
Modern-slavery vulnerability score21.719.1Low
Technology & Digital
E-government development (UN EGDI)0.826.2Medium
Internet users (% of population)89.233.6Medium
Cybercrime origination (World Cybercrime Index)0.830.0Medium
Secure internet servers (per million people)30647.217.0Low

Per-indicator ratings are quartile bands of the 0–100 risk score. The Australia column shows the same indicator’s raw value for the Australian baseline in this snapshot.

Cultural distance

GLOBE 2004 societal practices · rated on distance from Australia · not in the overall score

ItalyAustraliaGLOBE practice score · scale 1–7
Power distanceHigh
5.43
4.74
Uncertainty avoidanceHigh
3.79
4.39
Institutional collectivismVery High
3.68
4.29
In-group collectivismMedium
4.94
4.17
Humane orientationVery High
3.63
4.28
Performance orientationVery High
3.58
4.36
AssertivenessMedium
4.07
4.28
Gender egalitarianismLow
3.24
3.40
Future orientationVery High
3.25
4.09

Context — not scored

Unemployment

6.4%

Displayed, never scored: ambiguous for an entrant and unreliable where informal employment dominates. (2025, ILO modelled)

Trade agreement

No Australian FTA in force

Market access is decision-relevant but a benefit, not a risk — kept out of the rating.

Regional advisories

No higher regional advisory levels

DFAT Smartraveller sub-national advice where it exceeds the overall level.

Compare with

A score means little on its own. These economies scored closest to Italy in this snapshot, which is the fastest way to see whether the rating is telling you something specific or something regional.

All 218 economies · How to read these ratings