Italian digital growth, but on the edge: held back by energy and tariffs
ICT services and artificial intelligence drive the market: +3.2% in 2025, but momentum slows down towards 2028
Italian digital is running, but with its shoes untied. It is growing, but on ground that does not seem particularly stable. In the latest study by Anitec-Assinform, drawn up in collaboration with NetConsulting cube, the image that emerges is one of technology acting as a locomotive in the face of a rest of the economy puffed up, held back by tariffs and high energy prices.
Retention to 2028
In the first half of 2025, the digital market scored +3.2% and reached EUR 40,471.5 million. The picture is sharp and tells of a country trying to modernise even when the economic situation would suggest caution. At the end of 2025 the forecast confirms the direction: +3.2% to Euro 84,244.8 million. And for the three-year period, the study forecasts a progressive slowdown, until closing at +2.8% in 2028, bringing the market close to the 91.5 billion threshold.
The Pace of Economy
Moreover, going beyond the ICT sector, outside the borders, the weather is bad. The OECD sees world growth falling from 3.3% in 2024 to 3.2% in 2025 and 2.9% in 2026. And American tariffs have already changed behaviour: first the advance in trade, then the signs of a slowdown, with consumer confidence remaining weak. Italy, in between, remains at low speed: +0.6% in 2025 and 2026.
The Pull of ICT and AI Services
Yet, under the skin of the economy, the digital continues to pulsate. It is no longer the old infrastructures that are growing. Network Services dropped 1.1% in the first half of the year (to EUR 9,231 million, compared to +1.3% in the same period of 2024) dragged down by the decline in telephony and a mature mobile market. Offsetting this were ICT Services, which posted +7.1%, (a result only slightly lower than the 7.4% observed in 2024, reaching a total value of EUR 8,666.6m) driven by demand for consulting, integration and systems management. Software and ICT Solutions also played their part (+3.5% to EUR 4,352.4 million), thanks to platforms and middleware that hold together increasingly complex environments, including public and private clouds. Devices are breathing again (+2% to EUR 10,040.4 million), supported by the recovery of televisions and the start of a new cycle of technological replacement.
Then there is the digital shift from screens: content and online advertising grow by 5.5% to 8,181.2 million. Digital advertising, apps, gaming and mobile entertainment intercept time and attention, becoming a structural item of consumption. It is the most visible part of the change, the one that enters everyday habits, but it is not necessarily the most strategic.
