Taken as a whole, Sardinia's economic conditions are such that the island is in the best position amongst Italian regions located south of Rome. The greatest economic development had taken place inland, in the provinces of Cagliari and Sassari, characterized by a certain amount of enterprise. According to Eurostat, the 2007 GDP was €33,823.2 million, resulting in a €20,627 GDP per capita, in 2009.
The Sardinian economy is constrained due to high costs of transportation of goods and electricity, which is double compared to the continental Italian regions, and triple compared to the EU average. Sardinia is the only Italian region that produces a surplus of electricity, which supply power to the region, and does not import power from abroad, whereas the problem the region had encountered was insufficient transmission links as it is an island situated over 100 km from the mainland. In 2009 the new submarine power cable Sapei entered into operation, it links the Fiume Santo Power Station, in Sardinia, to the converter stations in Latina, in the Italian peninsula, the SACOI is another submarine power cable that links Sardinia to Italy, crossing Corsica, from 1965. The under construction submarine gas pipeline GALSI, will link Algeria to Sardinia and further Italy.
The per capita income in Sardinia is the highest of Southern Italy, with 16,540 euros per person. The most populated provincial chief towns have higher incomes: in Cagliari the income per capita is 27,545 €, in Sassari 24,006 €, in Oristano 23,887 €, in Nuoro is 23,316 € and in Olbia is 20.827 €.
In Sardinia are headquartered three main banks: the Banco di Sardegna, the Banca di Sassari and the Banca di Credito Sardo.
The unemployment rate for the fourth quarter of 2008 was 8.6%, by the 2012 the unemployment rate increased to 15%. The rise in unemployment was due to the global financial crisis that hit Sardinian exports, mainly focused on refined oil, chemical products,
