Emilia-Romagna: cooperation gains momentum – revenue up by 4.4 per cent

In Emilia-Romagna, fewer than one in a hundred businesses is a co-operative. Yet this sector accounts for almost a third of the turnover of the entire Italian co-operative movement. It is an industrial force that continues to grow faster than limited companies, confirming its status as one of the strategic drivers of the regional economy.

The figures come from the fifth Biennial Report on Cooperation, presented at the Tecnopolo Dama in Bologna during the Regional Conference. The 3,486 active co-operatives generate 44.4 billion in revenue and employ around 230,000 people: 12.8 per cent of the workforce in businesses across Emilia-Romagna. Although they account for 6 per cent of the country’s cooperatives, they account for 17 per cent of workers and 30 per cent of turnover.

Between 2016 and 2024, real turnover rose by 13.5 per cent and the number of employees by 4 per cent, a sign of long-term resilience. The average size is 66 employees per business, compared with 23 in Italia. And the results are improving: in 2025, turnover rose by 4.4 per cent, compared with 3 per cent for limited companies, whilst employment grew by 2 per cent, compared with 1.6 per cent.

This model is particularly significant in sectors that are crucial to the local economy. In the health and social care sectors, more than seven in ten workers are employed by co-operatives; in agriculture, their turnover accounts for 66.1 per cent of that of limited companies. In the logistics sector, they account for 22.2 per cent of the workforce. But perhaps the most promising figure concerns ‘generative’ enterprises, which are able to combine profits, wages, investment and employment: they account for 10.2 per cent of co-operatives, compared with 7.7 per cent of other companies. Among those led by young people, this proportion rises to 21.5 per cent.

“Cooperation is our most modern response to the challenges of competitiveness,” emphasised regional vice-president Vincenzo Colla, pointing to Foncooper and energy communities as two tools to support its development. For Daniele Montroni, president of Legacoop Emilia-Romagna, the challenge is to “transform shared needs into business projects”. Francesco Milza, president of the regional Confcooperative, called for “a generative, rather than an extractive, economy”, whilst Emanuele Monaci, president of Agci Emilia-Romagna, emphasised the need to demonstrate that “competitiveness, quality of work and social objectives can reinforce one another”. It is in this area, between innovation and social cohesion, that the future of the cooperative model will be decided.