The number of women working in Rome has increased by 3.3 per cent since 2004, with around 500,000 in employment, according to the annual report on the capitals economy commissioned by city authorities. In the 35-44 year-old age group, 73.2 per cent of women in the capital have a job, creating a wide gap between the national average of 62.3 per cent. Some 26.1 per cent of Romes businesses are headed by women, slightly more than the national average of 25.4 per cent. Women also accounted for 57.4 per cent of the 77,165 new entries into the workforce since 2005.

The report also underlined the general difference between the capitals economy and that of Italy as a whole. Around 1.9 million people in Rome are employed 49.1 per cent compared to the national average of 45.3 per cent, while the number of businesses in Rome now stands at almost 230,500 up 2.2 per cent since 2004 and double the average national growth.

Around 71.4 per cent of Romes 1.1 million families own their apartments, while the number of cars, motorcycles and mopeds has increased by 7.5 per cent in the last five years to 2.4 million, the report also revealed.