South, more enterprises in 2024 (+0.33%)

The first two quarters of 2024 deliver an encouraging picture of the entrepreneurial system in the southern regions (Campania, Puglia, Basilicata, Calabria, Sicily and Sardinia). An analysis of the data from the Chamber of Commerce Business Register shows that in the period January-June 2024 there were 53,715 new registrations in the area against 47,548 terminations, for a balance (registrations minus non-official terminations in the first two quarters of 2024) of +6,167 units, equal to a growth rate of +0.33%. A positive rate, higher than the national average (+0.31%), the North-East (+0.21%) and the North-West (+0.01%). Performance was lower only in Lombardy, which recorded an excellent +0.57%.

All the southern regions closed the two quarters with a positive balance except Sardinia, which recorded a balance of -120 companies. Within the national panorama, Campania (third place with +2,528 enterprises), Apulia (fourth place with +2,048 enterprises) and Sicily (sixth place with +914 enterprises) stand out in particular. In relative terms, Puglia +0.54% (fourth place in Italy) and Campania +0.42% (fifth place in Italy) did very well. If we go down to the provincial level, again in relative terms, no less than nine southern provinces are in the top twenty positions: Syracuse (+0.95%; second place), Vibo Valentia (+0.91%; third place), Sassari (+0.91%; fourth place), Naples (+0.70%; tenth place), Lecce (+0.69%; eleventh place), Brindisi (+0.65%; thirteenth place), Matera (+0.60%; fourteenth place), Bari (+0.59%; sixteenth place), Barletta-Andria-Trani (0.57%; seventeenth place). Going deeper into the analysis, capital companies in Southern Italy show the best growth rate (always in the first two quarters of 2024) compared to the other macro-areas: South +2.07%, North-West +1.57%, Lombardy +1.47% and North-East +1.22%. At the regional level, Puglia (+2.35%; in second place), Calabria (2.11%; in third place) and Campania (2.10%; in fourth place) stand out. At the provincial level, the southern provinces stand out: Vibo Valentia (3.13%; second place), Barletta-Andria-Trani (3.08%; third place), Lecce (2.77%; fourth place), Trapani (2.76%; fifth place).

A focus on foreign enterprises shows that in Southern Italy non-Italian entrepreneurship plays a less important role than in the other macro-areas. The percentage of foreign businesses in the South stands at 7.02% against an average of 11.07% in Italy, 11.41% in the North-East, 13.58% in Lombardy and 13.20% in the North-West. Looking at the analysis at a regional level, we can see that Campania (8.52%) and Calabria (8.03%) are in the middle of the ranking, while Basilicata (4.09%) and Apulia (5.82%) have the lowest values in Italy. At the provincial level, only Caserta (12.0%) and Lecce (11.7%) are in the top half of the provincial ranking (36th and 38th places respectively). In the last three positions of the provincial ranking are South Sardinia (3.8%), Potenza (3.8%), and Barletta-Andria-Trani (2.5%).