The Italian economy declined during the 1600s and 1700s, as the peninsula was excluded from the rising Atlantic slave trade. After 1600 Italy experienced an economic catastrophe. In 1600 Northern and Central Italy comprised one of the most advanced industrial areas of Europe. There was an exceptionally high standard of living. By 1870 Italy was an economically backward and depressed area; its industrial structure had almost collapsed, its population was too high for its resources, its economy had become primarily agricultural. Wars, political fractionalization, limited fiscal capacity and the shift of world trade to north-western Europe and the Americas were key factors.Carlo M. Cipolla, “The Decline of Italy: The Case of a Fully Matured Economy.” abFZxxxx Economic History Review 5#2 1952, pp. 178–187. online
