In 2016, Southern Italy's GDP and economy was growing twice as much as Northern Italy's.[50] According to Eurostat figures published in 2019, Southern Italy is the European area with the lowest employment percentages: in Apulia, Sicily, Campania and Calabria, less than 50% of the people aged between 20 and 64 had a job in 2018. This is largely due to the low participation of women in the workforce, as less than 50% of the women are employed, compared to a national and European average of 53.1% and 67.4%, respectively.[51][52]