The prime minister and leader of the centre-left Partito Democratico (PD), Matteo Renzi, has an ambitious political and economic reform programme, but divisions in the ruling coalition have delayed progress.
The Economist Intelligence Unit currently expects an early general election in 2015, as we expect Mr Renzi's reform programme to stall again.

Highlights 7

Political outlook 8

Democracy index 9

Economic policy outlook 11

Economic forecast 13

Annual data and forecast 17

Quarterly data 18

Monthly data 19

Annual trends charts 20

Quarterly trends charts 21

Monthly trends charts 22

Comparative economic indicators 23

Basic data 24

Political structure 25

Politics 26

Economy 40

中国科学技术信息研究所