Being located in different parts of the world, Italy and Singapore have different social and economic features. Singapore is a small country, whose population is 11.5 times smaller than in Italy (5 and 61 million respectively). Herewith, while Italy’s GDP is larger, its per capita income is almost twice as low as in Singapore. This is caused not only by GDP and population size, but also economic structure. In Singapore, more people are involved in the service sector (80.3% compared to 73.4% in Italy) and just a few work in agriculture (0.1% and 2.0% respectively). Interestingly, each of Singapore’s major trading partners accounts for more than 10% of its exports or imports, while the influence of Italy’s top partners is more varied. Additionally, low unemployment rate (2%) fosters GDP growth in Singapore, while high unemployment (8.4%) decreases it in Italy. Also, in Singapore, the percentage of people under 25 (29%) is more than twice as high as in Italy (12.3%) (“Age Distribution,” “State of the Elderly”), providing more opportunities for the country’s development. Finally, higher transparency, better business climate, and lower political risks in Singapore (compared to Italy and other states) make it the best country for doing business.
Both countries have high life expectancy (over 81 years) and literacy rates. The latter is higher in Italy (98.4% compared to 92.5%) with a larger gap between men and women literacy rates in Singapore, probably due different society traditions, including social roles. However, 14% of Italians live in poverty and Singapore is facing such problems as starvation, homelessness, etc. too, even though there is no specific data (Kaur and Switow, “Nearly 14 percent”). Also, the Gini index is much higher in Singapore (47.3%) compared to Italy (31.2%) (“Gini coefficient,” “Singapore Distribution”). Thus, the meaning of certain economic and social indicators can be quite ambiguous and should be considered in the context of other issues.
Works Cited
“Age Distribution.” NationMaster.com. nationmaster.com, n.d. Web. 9 Oct. 2012.
“Gini coefficient.” European Comission. Eurostat, n.d. Web. 9 Oct. 2012. < HYPERLINK "http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/table.do?tab=table&plugin=1&langua ge=en&pcode=tessi190" http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/table.do?tab=table&plugin=1&languag e=en&pcode=tessi190 >.
Kaur, D. and Switow, M. “The Economics of Living: Discussing Poverty in Singapore.” One Singapore. onesingapore, n.d. Web. 9 Oct. 2012.
“Nearly 14 percent of Italians living in poverty: survey.” People’s Daily online, 16 Jul. 2011. Web. 9 Oct. 2012.
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“State of the Elderly in Singapore 2008-2009. Release 1: Trends in Population Ageing. Profile of Singapore’s Elderly Population.” Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports, 2009. PDF file. Web. 9 Oct. 2012.