Benefit Corporations: nearly 6,000 businesses at the end of June
In just a few years, the model has taken the whole country by storm and spread across all sectors, thanks in part to the role played by MIMIT and the regional authorities. The next major event for the community will be on 16 October in Padua for the fourth round of the Benefit Competition
(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) The number of Benefit Corporations is growing steadily. As at 30 June 2026, there were 5,968 companies listed in the Companies Register that had opted for the Benefit model, representing a 15.64 per cent increase compared with the previous year. Collectively, they generate a production value of 71.37 billion euros and employ 259,841 people. This is the latest snapshot from the Benefit Corporation Observatory, promoted by the Brindisi-Taranto Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with InfoCamere, which allows users to track the evolution of this phenomenon through quarterly updates (Benefit Corporation Observatory).
Looking at the historical data, it is even more evident just how much the number of Benefit Corporations has changed in just a few years. In 2019 there were just 442, and by the following year this figure had almost doubled to 805. In 2021 there were 1,697, in 2022 2,626 and in 2023 3,619. In 2024, the figure reached 4,593, before rising to 5,540 in 2025. By the end of June 2026, in fact, they had nearly reached 6,000. In just over six years, the number has therefore increased more than twelve-fold. This growth illustrates the transition from what was still a niche phenomenon to an increasingly prominent feature of the Italian business landscape.
Photographs of businesses of varying sizes and sectors
The vast majority of Benefit Corporations are limited companies: they account for 96.65 per cent of the total. Furthermore, 90.32 per cent are active, a figure that reflects the true scale of the phenomenon beyond mere entries in the Companies Register. The distribution by size, on the other hand, reveals a complex picture. 34.69 per cent of Benefit Corporations fall into the bracket with a production value of up to 250,000 euros, whilst 5.25 per cent exceed 50 million euros. The model is therefore particularly popular amongst smaller companies, although there is no shortage of large groups. And it is precisely the presence of the latter that represents one of the signs of the model’s maturation: the choice to become a Benefit Corporation no longer concerns only start-ups or small innovative businesses, but also extends to well-established and consolidated organisations. The sectors are also diverse. Among the most represented sectors are professional, scientific and technical activities, followed by telecommunications, software development and IT services. The model is therefore concentrated in particular within the service sectors, but its adoption also extends to the manufacturing sector, although the figures are more modest in that case.
Lombardy is the main hub, but the model is widespread
At a regional level, Lombardy continues to play a dominant role, accounting for 30.58 per cent of Italy’s Benefit Corporations. This is followed by Lazio with 12.75 per cent, Veneto with 9.94 per cent, Emilia-Romagna with 8.19 per cent, Piedmont with 7.07 per cent and Tuscany with 5.33 per cent. In the South, Campania and Puglia stand out, accounting for 4.74 per cent and 4.71 per cent of the national total respectively.
However, if we look not at the number of companies but at the rate at which the phenomenon is growing, the picture changes. The most dynamic regions are not, in fact, those with the highest absolute number of Benefit Corporations. At the top of the ranking are Valle d’Aosta, with growth of 50 per cent, Campania (+36.71 per cent), Calabria (+32.61 per cent), Umbria (+32.20 per cent) and Liguria (+30.43 per cent). This highlights the so-called ‘paradox of peripheral growth’: whilst the major economic regions continue to account for the majority of Benefit Corporations, the highest rates of growth are being recorded in certain areas where the model is still relatively under-represented. The statistical data alone does not allow us to determine the causes of this acceleration, which may range from regional policies to the need to differentiate oneself in local markets, from a greater focus on the local area to the fact that the starting figures are low. What is clear is that the spread is not proceeding solely along the traditional axes of the major economic hubs in the North.
