Micro-enterprises: financial literacy is on the rise, but digital systems are still not widely used

Just 5 per cent of Italian micro-enterprises use artificial intelligence systems and only 6 per cent make use of robotics, whilst process interconnection is used by 4% of micro-entrepreneurs. More widespread, however, because it is simpler to implement, the cloud: 36 per cent use it extensively and a further 8 per cent to a limited extent. This is revealed in the report ‘Surveys on financial literacy and digital finance skills in Italia: small businesses’, conducted in 2025 involving 5,000 micro-business owners and published by the Bank of Italy on 8 September. However, 19 per cent of businesses are currently trialling AI or plan to introduce it within a year. This figure drops to 13 per cent for process interconnection and to 12 per cent for robotics.

According to the survey, all other things being equal, women are more likely to adopt digital technologies. Furthermore, having a high level of financial literacy could, according to researchers at Via Nazionale, foster ‘a better ability to assess the economic returns on digital investments’. And on the subject financial literacy, the research shows that the average score of respondents, on a scale of 0 to 100, stands at 74. Higher scores are recorded amongst micro-enterprises with higher turnover and amongst those that export, whilst there are no gender gaps. Fifteen per cent of micro-entrepreneurs fall into the lowest understanding bracket (zero to three correct answers out of eight), whilst the middle bracket (between four and six correct answers) accounts for 40 per cent of the sample. Finally, 45 per cent of the 5,000 respondents answered at least seven questions correctly.

All other things being equal, Palazzo Koch concludes, the likelihood of having a high level of knowledge is greater amongst better-educated entrepreneurs and amongst owners of larger businesses that have been established for less than ten years. As for the sector, however, those working in professional services, scientific and technical sectors, as well as those in the accommodation and catering sectors, are more likely to have a high level of knowledge than those in manufacturing. A presence in foreign markets also increases the likelihood of achieving a good score. Compared with the previous survey, conducted in 2021, the average level of financial literacy has risen by 2 per cent.