How many of you heard about Rieti before? Not that many I bet. How many knew that Rieti, the geographic center of Italy (located at less then 80 km from Rome), was founded decades before Rome and gave birth to three Roman Emperors (including the ones who built the Coliseum)? Who knew that Italy's first sugar factory (one of Europe's oldest) was established in Rieti? Or that Rieti's industrial zone hosts Italy's former leading manufacturer of solar panels, as well as Italy's industrial hub for metering and dosing pumps, the so-called "Pump Valley"?

Rieti: An Italian Second Tier City in Deep Economic Crisis

With an urban population of less than 50 thousands, Rieti's economy is doing much worse than Italy as a whole. Rieti's GDP per capita is 30% lower than Italy's average. Since the crisis (in 2009-12), Rieti's economy lost 12.4% of its value, while Italy's shrunk by 1.9%. The number of unemployed increased by 45% since 2009. Among youth (aged 15-24) 45% are without jobs. Many are migrating in other parts of Italy, or even abroad (like me), to seek better opportunities.

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Source: http://usitforum.com/