Online trade

Amazon export leverage, over 1.2 billion for Italian SMEs

Published the Economic Impact Report for the more than 20,000 Italian companies on the platform: 65% also sold abroad

by R.I.T.

18 September 2025

4' min read

Key points

Opportunities for small companies
The Made in Italy Showcase
Amazon in Italy

4' min read

A global platform for online commerce, a symbol par excellence of e-commerce and sometimes contested as an international colossus that runs the risk of suffocating retail and small businesses, Amazon, on the other hand, also proves to be a strategic export lever for the many realities present on its platform. In Italy there are over 20,000 SMEs, 65% of which also sold their products abroad in 2024.

Opportunities for small companies

This is evidenced by the latest edition of the Report on the Impact of Italian SMEs Selling Amazon. Sales outside national borders have generated more than EUR 1.2 billion in revenues, creating opportunities even for smaller companies that are far from urban centres: there are in fact more than 9 thousand (more than 45%) companies from rural or low-populated areas and, in 2024, 6 thousand of these recorded EUR 500 million in sales abroad.

Lombardy, Campania, Lazio, Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna are the top five regions by value of foreign sales and with the highest number of local SMEs on the online shop; Germany, France, the United States, the United Kingdom and Spain are the countries where Italian SMEs have sold most successfully.

The Made in Italy Showcase

The Report was presented at the event "Around the world in 10 years of Amazon's Made in Italy showcase", which took place on 18 September in Milan. Born in 2015, Amazon's Made in Italy showcase today supports over 5,500 Italian companies to sell their items in 11 countries around the world, with over 3 million products in the international showcase and 18 regional routes within it, representing the typicality of the territories.

Since 2019, the showcase has been working in cooperation with the Ice Agency, which promotes participating companies to sell on Amazon and the Made in Italy showcase through specific e-commerce marketing activities, including training for online sales and promotion of their products. The agreement between Ice and Amazon has so far involved more than 2,800 Italian SMEs and made more than 700,000 new Made in Italy products available to Amazon customers internationally.

"The value of Made in Italy and Italian entrepreneurship is recognised all over the world, and the tools that digital technology offers our country's companies are a concrete lever for business development outside the national borders," said Matteo Zoppas, president of Agenzia Ice. "This is why we are evaluating how to continue and strengthen our synergy with Amazon, certain that it is an effective channel for promoting our excellence abroad.

"The Made in Italy Showcase is a success story of the strategy to support Italian exports around the world: with a public investment of EUR 11.5 million, a turnover of over EUR 650 million has been generated in 10 years," added Fabrizio Lobasso, Deputy Director General for Economic Internationalisation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. These results confirm how strategic it is, for an entrepreneurial fabric like the Italian one, to favour access to advanced digital tools, capable of amplifying international visibility and reducing barriers to market entry. Digital and green transitions are a guarantee of exponential growth in exports and the projection of companies in the world'.

"Small and medium-sized enterprises are the backbone of the Italian economy. As their allies, we are happy to offer new tools, training opportunities and visibility, in Italy and abroad,' said Giorgio Busnelli, vice president and country manager of Amazon Italy. "Ten years ago Amazon's Made in Italy showcase was born as an experiment. Today it is a consolidated international store, which brings the excellence of small and medium-sized Italian companies to the world'.

Italy Calls Japan

On the occasion of the event, Amazon also announced that from 5 to 12 October, a special window called 'Happy 10th Anniversary Made in Italy!' will be available to Japanese and European customers, allowing them to learn about and purchase a curated selection of Italian excellence products within the Made in Italy showcase.

Italian Regions and Amazon

The more than 20,000 Italian SMEs that sell through Amazon are distributed throughout the country: in particular, Lombardy is confirmed as the first in the ranking in terms of export value, with more than 345 million euros in sales recorded abroad in 2024 and more than 3,400 SMEs in the region present on Amazon, of which more than 65% export. They are followed by Campania, with exports of more than 170 million euros and more than 3,100 SMEs, of which more than 60% export; Lazio, with more than 115 million euros registered abroad and more than 1,800 SMEs, of which more than 65% export; Tuscany, with more than 100 million euros registered abroad and more than 1,100 SMEs, of which more than 65% export. Finally, Emilia-Romagna closes the top 5, with over 1,400 SMEs, of which more than 65% export. The latter recorded more than 95 million euro in sales abroad in 2024.

Amazon in the UK

Since its arrival in Italy in 2010, Amazon has invested more than EUR 25 billion to build infrastructure, create jobs and support thousands of local businesses. In 2024 alone, investments exceeded EUR 4 billion. The company currently employs more than 19,000 people with permanent contracts in Italy, working in more than 60 facilities spread across the country - including logistics offices, corporate offices, data centres and customer service. To these are added indirect jobs: according to Keystone's estimates, in 2024, Amazon's investments in Italy are estimated to have supported over 40 thousand indirect jobs and more than 10 thousand induced jobs in sectors such as construction, logistics and other professional services.