On the occasion of the celebrations of the 150th anniversary of Italian Unity, SVIMEZ collected, processed and systematized a vast array of statistics, tables and graphs, which were then largely incorporated into the volume "150 Years of Italian Statistics: North and South. 1861-2011” (Bologna, il Mulino).
Even today, those research studies and reconstructions constitute a fundamental tool for study and reflection, offering an extremely detailed representation of the socioeconomic structure and territorial differences of the country, in a long-term perspective and with reference to a vast set of variables representative of the economy, demographics and society.
On the occasion of the PRIN 2022 project, The assessment of regional development policies in Italy through a new database (1950s-2000s), within the framework of the various forms of scientific collaboration provided by SVIMEZ, it was decided to offer them for the first time in digital and workable format, in order to facilitate access and use of the data to a broad audience and to support the work of the scientific community.
The sources of data processed by SVIMEZ are predominantly institutional, primarily ISTAT and the Bank of Italy; among others worth mentioning are ISVAP, Mediobanca, Assogestioni, Assonime, Infocamere. At the bottom of each table or graph, specific references and any elaborations and/or modifications to elementary data made by SVIMEZ are reported.
Depending on the variables considered, the level of territorial disaggregation can be by partition (Center-North/South), by district (Northwest/Northeast/Center/South) or regional (only in a few cases, also sub-regional).
At the chronological level, the data are annual, or averages of annual data, as representative as possible of the entire period from 1861 to 2011. Generally, these are values relating to contiguous years, but which refer to more restricted periods compared to the aforementioned 150 years; or they are representative of rather extensive time periods, but refer only to specific years (for example, data relating to census surveys, which are decennial).
The data, graphs and tables are here aggregated into 6 sections, representative of the different thematic areas analyzed, confirming the correspondence originally adopted by SVIMEZ in 2011; specifically: 1. Geography and Population; 2. Economy and Labor; 3. Territory and Networks; 4. Institutions, Services and Social Relations; 5. Public Finance and Interventions for the South; 6. Internationalization.