Made in Italy sectors drive growth in 2026

They have grown more than the average manufacturing industry over the last ten years and will manage to hold their own even in the difficult economic phase we are currently experiencing, despite the obstacles caused by US tariffs and geopolitical conflicts. There are about 76,000 companies in the made-in-Italy sectors, which generated revenues of EUR 637 billion in 2023, employing almost 2 million people and marking an increase of 4.3% compared to 2014 (compared to +3.7% for total manufacturing), as well as an overall improvement in their capital and credit profile.

The Monitor carried out by Cerved on the key sectors of Made in Italy (agrifood, fashion system, furniture and design, automation and mechanics, means of transport and pharmaceuticals) photographs "a vital ecosystem that unites companies, territories and people," comments CEO Luca Peyrano. Understanding its mechanisms and characteristics means reading the trajectory of future Italian competitiveness. The positive trend is expected to continue in the current two-year period, with a slight growth in revenues (+0.2%) in 2025, after a difficult 2024, and a more robust recovery, equal to 1.7%, in 2026, although there are differences from sector to sector.

Cerved's projections (calculated by simulating the economic-financial performance of around 900,000 companies) see pharmaceuticals and agro-foods consolidating their positions, with annual increases of over 4% for the former and around 8% for the latter. The situation is more difficult for the means of transport sector (-1% in 2025), weighed down by the crisis in the automotive sector, and for the fashion system, which should nevertheless return to growth in 2026.

In particular, the study highlights the strong export vocation of these companies which, although they represent just 7.8% of Italian companies, will generate 47.2% of national exports, equal to EUR 2oo billion in 2023. It is precisely this strong propensity to export that is one of the elements that has allowed the Made in Italy sectors to perform better in the past decade and that will allow them to be more competitive in the next two years as well, provided - and this is the 'warning' that emerges from the Cerved study - that companies know how to strengthen investments in innovation and sustainability, as well as diversify the outlet markets of their products to compensate for the slowdown, inevitable for many sectors, in the American market. Many are already doing this, particularly the large groups and the so-called national 'champions', turning to markets such as India, South-East Asia and Africa.

"The innovative capacity of companies will be the decisive element in order to remain competitive," Peyrano confirms, recalling the growing competition from countries such as China, which has announced huge investments in digital technologies for the coming years.