GreenItaly Report

In Italy, 578,000 non-agricultural enterprises focus on the green economy

The survey conducted by Unioncamere, Symbola Foundation and Tagliacarne Study Centre

by Lorenzo Pace

11 November 2025

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Key points

There is a growing demand for profiles and skills in environmental sustainability
More than 578,000 non-agricultural companies have invested in the green economy over the past six years
Gaps in the territory
Italy has the highest recycling rate of all waste
Weaknesses

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

From new fields of engineering to solar system installers. Italian companies are increasingly looking for qualified profiles linked to environmental sustainability. These are the so-called 'green jobs', which in 2024 numbered 3.3 million throughout the country, 13.8% of the total number of people employed. This is stated by the sixteenth GreenItaly Report realised by Unioncamere, Symbola Foundation and Tagliacarne Study Centre, under the patronage of the Ministry for the Environment and Energy Security, presented in Rome, at the Unioncamere headquarters in Piazza Sallustio, while the Cop30 is underway in Brazil.

Un momento della presentazione a Roma del Rapporto GreenItaly, arrivato alla sedicesima edizione. L’indagine è realizzata dalla Fondazione Symbola, da Unioncamere e dal Centro Studi Tagliacarne

There is a growing demand for profiles and skills in environmental sustainability

Data confirming the search for both profiles with skills in the field of environmental sustainability and professional figures undergoing reconversion or evolution for the green transition. In 2024 there will be 3,298,000 green jobs, an increase of 4.3% (+135,000) compared to 2023, with a share of 13.8% of the total employed. With increases in almost all of the country. The only area to have fallen is the Centre (-0.5%). The breakdown therefore sees the North-West leading the way with 32.8% of 'green jobs', followed by the North-East (23.6%), the South (23.1%) and the Centre (20.5%). What companies are looking for are specialised profiles in more emerging sectors, such as solar, power electronics or renewable energy engineers. But also some 'classic' professions readapted in a green key, such as town planner or safety compliance officer.

More than 578 thousand non-agricultural enterprises have invested in the green economy in the last six years

Over the past six years, 578,450 non-agricultural companies have invested in the green economy and sustainability. More than one in three. Those who hold 'patents in strategic green technologies,' says Unioncamere president Andrea Prete, 'have on average a 17% higher level of productivity. The real limit is not the willingness of companies, but the availability of qualified professionals. Companies have difficulty finding more than half of the green jobs sought, and this blocks investment'.

Data that, for Ermete Realacci, president of the Symbola Foundation, 'confirm the concreteness of President Mattarella's invitation to make green transition and decarbonisation an important factor of competitiveness'.

Gaps in the territory

On the territorial gaps, then, the report shows 'that the difference between the performance of each area analysed and the national average tends to grow'. In Lombardy there are 102,730 eco-investor companies, then there are Veneto (54,970), Lazio (50,960), Campania (50,980) and Emilia-Romagna (47,640).

It is somewhat different if, however, one analyses the individual cities. Rome comes first (39,020 companies), followed by Milan (37,680) and Naples (25,930). These are, however, metropolises where the number of companies is high. In fact, if we look at the incidence on the total, Bolzano (50.1% of companies invest in green), Bologna (47.6%) and Siracusa (46.2%) win.

Then there are Italy's positive results from a global perspective. Such as the recycling of total waste (urban and special), which in Italy reached 92.6% in 2023. A rate far higher than that of France (81.5%), Germany and Spain (75.5%) and the EU-27 average (60%).

Italy has the highest percentage of recycling of all waste

This also applies to packaging recycling. Italy's actual quota is 76.7%. A percentage that consolidates the European leadership, already confirmed by the achievement ten years ahead of schedule of the overall European recycling target for 2030. The most virtuous sectors are paper (92.4%), steel (86.4%) and glass (80.3%).

Weaknesses

However, alongside the positive data, there are also structural barriers, such as "regulatory fragmentation and inconsistency, slow and uncertain authorisation processes, discontinuous or ill-calibrated incentives, high energy costs linked to the failure to decouple from gas, lack of capital and infrastructure for technological scale-up, skills gaps and cultural resistance in companies, public administration and citizenship".

And then there is the automotive sector, in the midst of a profound industrial transformation 'in which dependencies and geopolitical imbalances come into play that risk slowing down the green transition'. In particular, Chinese power. "Italy is lagging far behind in this context," the report states, "with production and registrations of hybrid and electric cars at low levels, and there are structural criticalities, with an insufficient recharging network".

This is why Environment Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, speaking in a video message, emphasised that the report is 'a very useful tool for the Italian green transaction. It is up to us to create the conditions for green companies to prosper and grow. This is the government's goal'. The data, however, 'are heartening, because they show the millions of jobs that are well paid and look to the future. Companies that hold the country's name high'.

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