More than one out of two Italians live on less than 15,000 euros a year, according to a study of tax returns filed in 2006 on incomes for 2005 by the economy ministry.
Out of a total of 40.74 million Italians filing tax returns, over 22 million (54.7%) declared an income of between 1,200 and 1,300 euros a month.
Just over 300,000 Italian tax payers declared earnings of over 100,000 euros a year, equal to 0.74% of tax payers, while only 58,650 Italians, 0.14%, admitted to earning more than 200,000 euros.
The average annual per capita income in 2005 was calculated at 17,297 euros, an increase of 3.1% over the previous year.
More than half of Italian companies, 51.1%, broke even or declared losses for 2005 while 48.9% reported net profits.
