The fifteenth “Io sono cultura” (I am culture) report by Fondazione Symbola, chaired by Ermete Realacci and presented in November 2025, is not just an economic analysis, but a hymn to the greatness, vitality, and resilience of Italy, capable of transforming challenges into opportunities and reacting in difficult moments with creativity, determination, and institutional lucidity, supported by a cultural and creative heritage unique in the world. In years characterized by epochal geopolitical changes and global instability, Italy has been able to cross the ford of difficulties better than many other countries, demonstrating an extraordinary balance between the pragmatism of institutions and the initiative of citizens and businesses. This balance has made it possible to face crises without losing course, protecting our economy, our cultural and creative enterprises, and continuing to invest in the future, with a vision increasingly attentive to sustainability and ecological transition.
Culture for Italy is also a formidable activator of the economy: a complex supply chain in which private, public, and third-sector entities operate, which in 2024 generated over 112.6 billion euros of added value, an increase of +2.1% compared to the previous year and +19.2% compared to 2021, with almost 289,000 active companies (+1.8% compared to 2023) and more than 27,700 non-profit organizations dedicated to culture and creativity, equal to 7.6% of the total third-sector organizations.
However, the weight of culture and creativity is not limited to the direct value of the activities: considering the indirect and induced effects, it generates a total of approximately 302.9 billion euros of added value, confirming the strategic centrality of culture in the Italian economy. The recovery of the Mezzogiorno also continues in 2024, with growth rates higher than the national average both in terms of added value (+4.2% against +2.1%) and employment (+2.9% against +1.6%), with particularly significant increases in Calabria (+7.5% added value; +4.7% employment) and Sardinia (+7.5% added value; +6.2% employment), a sign that culture can also be a powerful tool for cohesion and territorial development. Added to these data is a growing participation of young people in the cultural industries, confirming how they are the engine of innovation, energy, and internationalization of the Italian system.
Italy is a great creative laboratory where art, music, fashion, design, cinema, food and wine, craftsmanship, and every form of cultural expression are intertwined with technological innovation, digitalization, and scientific research, transforming the past into an engine for the future and giving life to an ecosystem that knows how to continuously reinvent itself. Italian beauty is never static: it lives, breathes, communicates, moves, and creates bonds between people, territories, and generations. Artisanal tradition merges with technology, ancient knowledge dialogues with innovation, and every product, work, or project becomes a symbol of a rare balance between authenticity and modernity.
Made in Italy is not just a brand, but an experience that tells who we are, where we come from, and where we can arrive. Today, the government and the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy have been able to protect and enhance this resource, protecting businesses, encouraging research, promoting culture, and supporting Italian excellence in the world, with particular attention to technological and sustainable supply chains. Italian culture generates an economic, social, and human value: it builds communities, creates invisible bridges that connect past and future, tradition and progress, local and global, and it does so with the strength of those who have known how to go through difficult moments without losing their identity.
Tourism, closely linked to cultural heritage and the Italian quality of life, has become one of the most powerful levers of the country’s attractiveness, generating direct value and multiplying the impact of the creative sectors, transforming every visit into an experience that strengthens Italy’s image in the world and stimulates international demand for excellent Italian products and services. Italian cuisine, recently recognized as a UNESCO intangible cultural heritage, represents an extraordinary example of how tradition and creativity can become something shared and global, generating economic growth, employment, and tourist attractiveness. Alongside the culinary tradition, the food and wine culture, sustainable fashion, design, and new forms of performance and entertainment contribute to strengthening the international image of the country, making Italy a model of cultural and sustainable innovation.
Compared to other countries in Europe and the world, Italianness represents excellence par excellence, a brand recognized for quality, creativity, and style, the result of work, ingenuity, and passion, a source of pride for everyone. The work of the institutions and the government has demonstrated that investing in culture, creative industries, and tourism means investing in the future of the country, in its global competitiveness, and in the well-being of people, consolidating Made in Italy as a strategic engine of growth.
Looking to the future, Italy has an extraordinary opportunity ahead: to become a global model of creative growth, sustainable development, and dynamic cultural identity, capable of communicating with the world without giving up its roots. Made in Italy, which combines past and future, tradition and innovation, is the perfect synthesis of this journey: every product, work, or idea tells a story, transmits emotions, and communicates values that have no equal elsewhere. If we continue to enhance our cultural and creative heritage, supporting these sectors as engines of growth, innovation, and resilience, Italy will be able to look at the world with strength, pride, and determination, making beauty, creativity, and cultural identity the compass of its future and confirming once again that our Italianness is excellence to be celebrated, protected, and defended always.
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