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Italy loses thirty-five businesses a day

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Italy loses thirty-five businesses a day
Over 5,300 companies closed in the first five months of 2013. Photo: Garry Knight/Flickr

The retail sector has been the hardest hit by the ongoing recession, according to a report by the Italian Chamber of Commerce.

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More than 5,300 businesses closed their doors during the first five months of this year, a jump of 5.6 percent compared to 2012, Italian daily La Stampa said, citing Chamber of Commerce statistics.

The retail sector fared the worst, with 1,203 business closures, closely followed by 1,138 bankruptcies in the construction industry and 1,138 in manufacturing.

The property sector has also been hit hard, with 250 closures between January and May - almost double the amount in the same period last year.

Other sectors affected include the transport and storage industry as well as furniture makers and businesses that specialize in restoration work. 

The bankruptcies have been spread across the country, with 1,200 in the northern region of Lombardy, up 7.8 percent from last year, and 595 in Lazio, an increase of 11.4 percent. Tuscany saw a 38.2 percent increase in business closures, up to 441, while 153 businesses in Calabria went bust.

Last month Confindustria, Italy’s business association, said that the economic crisis had destroyed the country’s manufacturing industry as 55,000 firms had closed since 2007. 

In late June, a report released by the retailers association, Confesercenti, said that Italy was losing 134 retail outlets a day, a situtation described as a “massacre” by the association’s president.

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