Italy's economy/ growing old

Just read this in The Economist:
"The World Economic Forum in its annual competitiveness league table recently ranked the country (Italy) a humiliating 47th, just above Botswana."
Botswana?? Super ouch!

Quite a few ppl have commented that I look older than I really am. The usual questions I get are, "So you've been working here for quite some time already?" and "Are you married?". And you should see the shocked look on their faces when I say no. Ok, this is usually at work, not in a social context. Is that a good or bad sign?