Culture and beauty in Italy are identity traits rooted in society and the economy. Hence the title of the Io sono cultura report, and thanks to their strong relationship with manufacturing, they have given rise to one of the world's strongest manufacturing identities, Made in Italy.

Today, the cultural and creative industries are among the most strategic sectors for facilitating Italy's economic and social recovery. Not only because the numbers of the last decade show that we are talking about a significant source of jobs and wealth, but also because they are an engine of innovation for the entire economy and act as an activator of the growth of other sectors.

From tourism to creative-driven manufacturing-that is, manufacturing that has been able to incorporate cultural and creative professionals and skills into production processes that are often oriented toward sustainability, translating beauty into objects and bringing made in Italy to the world. Beauty and culture, therefore, are part of Italian DNA and are at the basis of the made-in-Italy recipes for emerging from crises. I am Culture annually quantifies the weight of culture and creativity in the national economy. The numbers show that culture is one of the engines of our economy; the study offers numbers and stories and is made possible thanks to the contribution of many leading personalities in different sectors.

Culture for Italy is also a formidable activator of the economy. A supply chain, in which private, public and third-sector entities operate, which, in 2023, grows both from the point of view of added value (104.3 billion euros, up +5.5% compared to the previous year and +12.7% compared to 2019) and employment (1,550,068 workers with a change of +3.2% compared to 2022, compared to +1.8% recorded at the national level).

A complex and composite supply chain in which almost 284,000 businesses (up +3.1% from 2022) and more than 33,000 nonprofit organizations involved in culture and creativity (9.3% of the total number of organizations active in the nonprofit sector), which employ more than 22,700 employees, temps and outsiders (2.4% of the total paid human resources operating in the entire nonprofit universe).

But the “weight” of culture and creativity in our country is much greater than the added value derived from its activities alone. Culture and creativity, directly or indirectly, generate a total added value of about 296.9 billion euros.

The report, now in its 14th edition, is produced by the Symbola Foundation, Unioncamere, Guglielmo Tagliacarne Study Center of the Chambers of Commerce, Deloitte with the collaboration of the Institute for Sports and Cultural Credit, Fitzcarraldo Foundation, Fornasetti and under the patronage of the Ministry of Culture.

Io Sono Cultura makes it possible to analyze the evolution of the supply chain in terms of wealth production and job creation. Looking at the dynamics of the national production of the cultural and creative sectors, the growth of the Software and Video Games sector continues, which is confirmed as the biggest generator of wealth in the supply chain with 16.7 billion euros of added value (16 percent of the entire supply chain, +10.5 percent compared to 2022) and an increase in jobs of more than 16 thousand (13.1 percent of the supply chain, +8.7 percent compared to 2022). Data for the entire Italian digital market reflect this trend, highlighting how the business-related component has focused on digitization as an opportunity to improve its competitive position.

The second largest sector in terms of wealth generated and number of employees is Publishing and Printing, with values of 11.5 million euros (11.1 percent of the supply chain, +2.7 percent from the previous year) and more than 196 thousand employees (12.7 percent, +0.7 percent), respectively.

The activities of Architecture and Design generating 8.6 billion euros (8.2% of the supply chain) increase the wealth produced by +6.6% over the previous year, growth significantly more important for the more structured and larger architectural companies.

Also noteworthy is how in the field of historical and artistic heritage enhancement, employment, which is worth 3.7 percent over the entire cultural system, continues to grow (+6.9 percent) and recover, albeit not completely, the job losses recorded after 2019.

From the territorial analysis, in contrast to previous years, 2023 shows a recovering South, thanks to faster increases than the national average values: if the difference is minimal for added value (+5.7% instead of +5.5%), it is more pronounced in terms of employment growth (+4.0% compared to a national average growth of +3.2%). The South's greater dynamism this past year is linked to the Core component and, in particular, to certain sectors among which Architecture and Design, Publishing and Printing, Performing Arts and Visual Arts as well as Software and Video Games activities stand out. In particular, the increases in Calabria (+10.1 percent in value added and +6.8 percent in employment) and Sardinia (+9.4 percent in value added and +6.5 percent in employment) stand out, although these are small changes in absolute value. However, the gap with the rest of the country still remains wide, partly linked to the low presence of the southern provinces in the Top20 territories that contribute most to generating added value and employment in the Cultural and Creative Production System.

Analyzing data on the types of contracts and working arrangements of employees in the cultural and creative sector, a certain precariousness emerges, albeit concentrated in specific sectors.

In terms of contract length, the system as a whole has a share of workers with fixed-term contracts of 14.7 percent, slightly lower than the national average of 16.0 percent. However, within core culture, the percentage rises to 15.3 percent, while it is lower in the creative driven sector with 13.9 percent. Precariousness appears more pronounced in the performing arts and visual arts (30.8 percent), in the activities to enhance the historical and artistic heritage (23.9 percent) and in the Architecture and design sector (20.2 percent). In contrast, in the Audiovisual and music sector, fixed-term contracts are less common, at 8.9 percent.

Looking at trends across sectors, we see a consolidation of some “post-pandemic” trends with some variation. First, the intermingling of culture and digital is advancing in all sectors with a central role of social networks (TikTok and Instagram especially) in conveying content and consequently defining successes. Among the positive side effects is the lowering of the average age of users and players in the cultural and creative supply chain.

And if digital innovation does not only affect the fruition, but also the production of content, many sectors of the supply chain today are grappling with the first experiments aimed at introducing AI into creative processes, exploring its opportunities and criticalities. These range from sectors such as video games, where machine learning techniques are widely used to improve the gaming experience (from the realism of gameplay to the dynamism of the game environment) as well as to automate repetitive development tasks, to areas where its experimental use has recently been spreading among operators, motivated by the advantages gained in terms of content personalization, reduced production time and greater ability to engage in different market niches.

This is happening, for example, in the world of design, where AI is redefining project sectors such as those of design or architecture, and those of communication, where Italian companies and brands are proactively integrating AI into advertising strategies. Much slower is the penetration in audiovisual, music, radio, limited to the more “technical” aspects of productions (set design and lighting design in the world of performing arts; editing, graphics, translations, targeting and promotion in the world of publishing), at other times almost completely absent (see contemporary art, which prefers consolidated techniques and easier positioning). All the way to sectors such as Italian comics where fears prevail, in a segment whose strengths (dirty, fast, sudden and standardized strokes in its seriality) fail to find a balance in the desirable synergy between human and artificial intelligence.

In addition to the advancement of digital and new generations, several sectors of the industry are accumulated by their strong relationship with tourism.