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Abstract: This paper aims at contributing to the understanding of pre-modern economic growth through a reconstruction of poverty levels and trends in Italy. Our findings have shown that a positive period from about 1700 until 1760 was followed by a long negative phase that lasted from 1760 until 1875, during which Italy fell behind the most dynamic countries of Northern Europe and primarily England. Poverty increased in Italy and there was a fall in per capita calorie consumption. Only after 1875 did living standards improve rapidly along with a substantial reduction in poverty levels.

Keywords: Poverty; Italian economy; 18th-19th centuries; standard of living; before Modern Growth