From agriculture to restaurants, agribusiness is worth 19% of GDP

"The weight of the extended agrifood supply chain (which includes agriculture, food, distribution, intermediation and distribution) in the Italian economy is still growing: it is now worth €586.9 billion in turnover, 8.4% more than in 2021 and +29% on 2015, and generates almost €335 billion in added value, equal to 19% of Italian GDP". These are the figures illustrated by The European House - Ambrosetti during the presentation of the eighth edition of the forum "The Roadmap of the Future for Food&Beverage: What Evolutions and What Challenges for the Next Years" to be held in Bormio on 7 and 8 June. In addition, the food and beverage supply chain, in its broadest possible sense, attracted more than €25 billion in investments in 2022 thanks to the work of 3.7 million employees. 

"In a context of permanent crisis that has been with us since 2020 amidst health emergencies and international tensions," commented Valerio De Molli, managing partner and ceo of The European House Ambrosetti, "it is the quality of Made in Italy agri-food production that is the factor that has allowed the sector to continue growing: we are the first country in the European Union for certified products (890 in total), 326 from the food world (worth 8.9 billion euro) and 564 from the wine sector for over 11 billion euro.

Export is confirmed as a strong point: according to analysts, at the end of 2023 exports of agricultural and processed products reached a record value of 62.2 billion: on average a growth of 6.4% per year from 2010 to date and an increase of 69% compared to 2015. The food and beverage sector contributes EUR 53.4 billion, while the agricultural sector is worth EUR 8.8 billion.

"In 2010," added Benedetta Brioschi, partner The European House Ambrosetti, "agro-foods accounted for 8.2% of total Italian exports, while in 2023 it was close to 10% (9.9), up 1.7 percentage points in the last 13 years".
Numbers that, according to Ambrosetti, today position the agro-food industry "as the first manufacturing sector in Italy in terms of added value generated with over 66 billion, more than the production of machinery and equipment (43) and metal products (37). Compared to GDP, the 37 billion generated by agriculture and the 29 by food and drink represent 3.8%, more than Germany (2.6%) and the United Kingdom (2.1%), but less than France (4.5%) and Spain, the country with the highest incidence: 5.2%.

Despite a slight drop in exports of 0.8%, wine remains the first agri-food product most sold abroad (EUR 7.8 billion) with a 12.5% share of total agri-food exports. Behind them there are other products showing good growth: flour-based products, including pasta, which are worth EUR 6.9 billion in foreign sales, recorded +7.9% and overtook dairy products, which stopped at EUR 6 billion (up 7.1%), as well as processed fruit and vegetables (EUR 5.7 billion and double-digit growth in the last year: +11.1%). Italy is first in the world for market share of pasta (45%), bitters and spirits (42%), tomato puree (27%), chestnuts (23%) and processed vegetables where Italy leads the market with 20% share. The Peninsula also ranks second in the global market for wine (20%) after France, rice flour (20%), hazelnuts (15%), apples (13%) and kiwis (12%).