I am Culture' report

Culture resists the crisis: 112.6 billion added value in 2024

The study promoted by Symbola takes a snapshot of a healthy industry, growing by 2.1% by 2023. A crucial lever for business competitiveness

by Giovanna Mancini

15 October 2025

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Key points

The Numbers of the 2025 Report
A lever for growth
The role of artificial intelligence

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Beauty, culture and creativity not as accessory or, so to speak, decorative factors of the economy, but as structural and fundamental elements for the competitiveness of Italian companies. In a country like ours - cradle of a historical and artistic heritage that is among the most admired in the world, with the highest number (61) of sites recognised by Unesco - the ability to create culture is a resource that generates added value and encourages innovation.

The Numbers of the 2025 Report

And if this principle is intuitive for many, for 15 years the "I am Culture" Report has been quantifying this value and its impact. A value that even in 2024, despite the many challenges and difficulties that our economy is going through, has grown: between companies, third sector institutions and public administration, this vast ecosystem has reached 112.6 billion euros of added value, with a growth of +2.1% compared to the previous year and +19.2% compared to 2021. If we also consider the allied and indirect effects, this value rises to 303 billion euros, equal to 15.5% of the national economy.

"Impressive numbers," observes Ermete Realacci, president of the Symbola Foundation - which promotes the Report together with Unioncamere, Deloitte and the Guglielmo Tagliacarne Study Centre of the Chambers of Commerce, in collaboration with the Istituto di Credito Sportivo e Culturale, the Fitzcarraldo Foundation and Fornasetti - anticipating some of the data contained in the 2025 edition of the Report, which will be presented at the end of the month.

A lever for growth

"These numbers confirm that the strength of our economy owes a great deal, and in all fields, to culture and beauty, and even at a time when fundamental challenges such as the ecological transition or artificial intelligence are appearing, this key through which Italy is present in the world and in the economy guarantees us strength for the future," adds Realacci.

More than one and a half million people work in this sector, including specialists, technicians and creative people also active in areas that are not purely cultural, reads the Report, which photographs a production system made up of almost 289,000 enterprises (up by +1.8% compared to the previous year) and around 27,700 non-profit organisations active in the cultural and creative sectors (7.6% of the total number of non-profit organisations in Italy).

The Role of Artificial Intelligence

It is interesting to note that culture and creativity are closely linked to innovation, as demonstrated by the fact that artificial intelligence increasingly permeates the 'core' sectors of the cultural industry (from publishing to communication, from design to art), re-prioritising priorities and production processes, but also transforming distribution channels and fruition models. Moreover, the sector that generates the greatest added value within the cultural ecosystem is the software and video games sector, which in 2024 reached EUR 17.7 billion (28% of the entire 'core' sector, up 8% compared to 2023), with 205,000 employees, up 17.8% compared to 2021 and +2.3% in the last year.

This is followed by Publishing and Printing (EUR 11.3 billion in added value, down 1.5% year-on-year, and over 196 thousand employees) and Architecture and Design, which generate EUR 9.7 billion and employ over 145 thousand people, despite a 6.3% drop in added value and a 5.5% drop in the number of employees.

This is confirmed by the 'Olivetti Plan for Culture' promoted by the Ministry of Culture, which allocates 44 million euro to libraries, bookshops and publishers, with particular attention to peripheral and disadvantaged areas, recognising these places as fundamental proximity garrisons for social cohesion and to guarantee access to knowledge for all.

Not a superfluous luxury, then, but a competitive asset: 'As John Kenneth Galbraith said,' concludes Realacci, recalling the words of the well-known economist, 'the extraordinary development of our country after the Second World War was not driven by the superiority of Italian science or engineering, nor by the skills of the political class or managers, but by Italy's ability to incorporate in its products an essential component of culture and the quantity of beauty present in our cities, albeit lacking in infrastructure. Today as then, faced with the uncertainties of the markets, global competition and the difficult challenges that await us, "much more than the economic index of GDP, the level of aesthetics will become increasingly decisive in indicating the progress of society.

Giovanna ManciniRedattore ordinario
- @mancinica
Luogo: Milano
Lingue parlate: Italiano, inglese, tedesco
Argomenti: Industria del design e arredo, made in Italy, cronaca di Milano, consumi, industria del commercio, e-commerce
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