The Italian economy has changed dramatically since the end of World War II. From an agriculturally based economy, it has developed into an industrial state ranked as the world’s sixth largest market economy. The formation of the European Union has focussed considerable attention on this region of the world economy. Experts and practitioners alike have been interested in examining whether the EU has really benefited the states within it and if so to what extent. This short term paper examines the relative economic performance of a major economy within the EU, Italy, in order to understand how it performed within the last 5 years.