Businesses: net figure of +18,403 in the third quarter – the highest since 2021

This is the third quarter with the highest net figure since 2021. Between July and September, the Chambers of Commerce’s Business Register recorded 62,788 new registrations (+2.5 per cent compared with the same period in 2025) and 44,385 closures. This results in a net increase of 18,403 businesses, representing growth of 0.32 per cent, compared with 16,920 (+0.29 per cent) last summer. At the end of September, the total number of businesses stood at 5,828,620, according to Movimprese, the quarterly analysis by Unioncamere and InfoCamere.

The growth is almost entirely driven by limited companies: 22,812 new registrations compared with 8,283 closures, resulting in a net increase of 14,529 (+0.73 per cent), which accounts for 79 per cent of the overall increase. Sole traders increased by 5,030, at a rate of 0.18 per cent compared with 0.12 per cent a year ago, whilst partnerships continued to decline: 1,342 fewer (-0.17 per cent), the same rate as in 2025.

Eighteen of the nineteen main sectors ended the year in the black. Construction (+3,435), accommodation and catering (+3,389) and professional, scientific and technical activities (+2,863) accounted for a total of 9,687 businesses, more than half of the national total. Compared with 2025, the trend in traditional sectors has reversed: trade (+1,486), agriculture (+798) and manufacturing (+123) are back in positive territory after each recorded a fall of 0.03 per cent a year ago.

The highest growth rates, on the other hand, are concentrated in smaller sectors, starting with electricity and gas (+2.33 per cent, 364 firms) and financial and insurance activities (+1.49 per cent, 2,281 firms). Seven sectors are growing by more than 0.9 per cent – almost triple the average – including health and social care (+0.97 per cent), arts and sports (+0.94 per cent) and telecommunications and IT (+0.93 per cent). The only sector to record a decline was mining and quarrying, which saw a loss of 17 out of 3,227 businesses (-0.52 per cent).

The craft sector is slowing down. The net change remains positive at 1,401 units, but the rate has fallen to 0.11 per cent from 0.15 per cent in 2025. Craft partnerships fell by 906, whilst the craft manufacturing sector lost 615 businesses. Veneto (-209) and Marche (-103) ended the quarter in the red for the craft sector, whilst in Lazio the rate almost halved, from 0.57 per cent to 0.31 per cent.