Cashless Index, Italia ranked 21st in the EU with 181 digital transactions per capita

Despite transacting over EUR 500 billion this year, Italia is still below the European average: it is 21st in the Cashless Society Index 2026 and 31st in the world for Cash Intensity, with cash use still above the European average. This is the ranking that emerges from the Teha Group's Community Cashless Society 2026 report.

In 2025, cashless transactions in Italia tripled in value compared to 2015 and stood at 26.6% of GDP, a result that consolidates the growth of digital payments in the country and confirms its role as an enabling economic infrastructure. However, the expansion of cashless, supported by an average annual growth rate of +9.5% over the last three years, is part of a picture that still shows significant room for growth: Italia ranks 21st in the Cashless Society Index 2026, with 181.4 transactions per capita, well below the EU27 average of 246.8 transactions per capita.

The 11th report of the Teha Group's Community Cashless Society also conducted a survey of citizens, merchants and companies to analyse the main innovative trends in the world of cashless payments: the results will be presented during the Forum, to be held on 26 March 2026 at Villa d'Este, Cernobbio. "Digital payments are now a stable component of the national economy and a strategic lever for competitiveness, legality and efficiency," says Valerio De Molli, managing partner and CEO of The European House - Ambrosetti and Teha Group. "However," he adds, "the distance from the main European countries remains significant: bridging this gap means strengthening Italia's ability to attract investments, reduce the underground economy and support a more transparent, modern and inclusive growth".

At current growth rates, an additional EUR 27.5 billion could be activated by 2030, while in the event of alignment with European best performers, the overall potential could reach EUR 123 billion. Today, the cashless payments industry represents a structured and high-value sector for the national economic system: it counts 2,844 companies with the integration of national and international operators, generates EUR 17.7 billion in turnover and EUR 9.4 billion in added value, with 34,600 employees distributed along the entire value chain of electronic transactions. Over the last ten years, the sector has recorded a growth dynamic significantly higher than the average of the Italian economy: since 2015, turnover has increased by 85.3 per cent, against a GDP growth of +32.2 per cent.

Returning to the Cashless Society Index 2026, Italia (21st place in the EU-27) lost one position compared to the previous year and remains far behind the main European benchmarks: Germany (10th), Spain (12th) and France (16th). The gap is also evident in the main quantitative indicators. The cashless transaction represents 26.6 per cent of GDP, remaining below the EU-27 average of 31.6 per cent. While, on the one hand, the country has accelerated in the digitalisation of payments, on the other, the comparison with Europe shows that the catch-up is still partial and insufficient to close a gap that appears to be structural in nature. In this context, there is the dependence on cash, which, according to the Cash Intensity Index, places Italia in 31st place out of 144 world economies in terms of the incidence of cash in circulation on GDP (11.5%), a value higher than the European average (9.8%) and higher than the main geographical areas. The increased circulation of cash has a negative impact on the traceability of transactions and contributes to strengthening the dynamics of the underground economy, which for the third consecutive year have worsened (+7.5%), bringing the phenomenon back to levels higher than the pre-pandemic period.