Italy’s newest “Io sono cultura” report shows a cultural and creative system that continues to expand in both economic weight and workforce. In 2024 the cultural production chain generated 112.6 billion euros in added value, equal to about 6.1% of the national economy. Compared with 2023, this represents a 2.1% increase; over a longer horizon, the sector has grown more than 19% since 2021.
Employment follows the same upward trend. Around 1.5 million people worked in cultural and creative activities in 2024, up 1.6% year over year. The system relies on roughly 289,000 companies, from micro-enterprises to large cultural institutions, along with more than 27,700 nonprofit organizations.
