Social economy in Italy

Numbers and distribution

The social economy, which includes entities such as cooperatives, mutual societies, associations, foundations and social enterprises, is central to a more equitable and sustainable society.

The organisations that are part of it not only enrich the economic landscape of the country, but also combine value creation and social engagement, producing goods and services of general interest by putting the person and the community at the centre rather than profit.

 

The interactive charts we present here offer an overview of the main data on the social economy in Italy, resulting from the aggregation of data from the ASIA registers and the Permanent Census of Non-Profit Institutions of the National Institute of Statistics, the administrative registers (RUNTS and Albo delle Cooperative) managed respectively by the Italian Ministry of Labour and Social Policies and the Italian Ministry of Business and Enterprise, and the databases managed by EURICSE.

405 223

ORGANISATIONS (2023)

1 537 002

EMPLOYEES (2023)

4 661 269

VOLUNTEERS (2021)

KEY FIGURES

Explore the total number of organisations active in the social economy, their weight in regional economies, and employment levels. Sectoral and geographical breakdowns highlight the areas experiencing the most significant growth.

The data presented in this section are derived from an aggregation of Istat databases, including ASIA – Enterprises, ASIA – Agriculture, ASIA – Employment, and the Permanent Census of Non-Profit Institutions.

Social economy organisations by legal form.

Social economy employees by legal form.

Social economy organisations and employees.

Social economy organisations by economic activity.

Employees in the social economy by economic activity.

Social Economy organisations by region. Year 2023.

The map shows the distribution of organisations according to their legal seat

Weight of the social economy on the private economy by region. Year 2023.

The weight was calculated by comparing the number of social economy organisations to the total number of active private enterprises and social economy entities.

SOCIAL ENTERPRISES IN ITALY

Social enterprises represent a cross-cutting dynamic within the social economy.

This section provides an overview of data on the number of social enterprises, based on 2023 data from the Statistical Register of Non-Profit Institutions.

Number of social enterprises by region. Year 2023.

Number of social enterprises per 10,000 inhabitants by region. Year 2023.

Social enterprises by sector of activity. Year 2023.

Social enterprises by legal form. Year 2023.

THE ECONOMIC VALUE OF COOPERATIVES

The charts presented in this section analyse the production value and value added generated by cooperatives across different sectors and territories, using data from the ISTAT databases (ASIA – Enterprises, ASIA – Agriculture), the AIDA Bureau van Dijk database, and the MIMIT Register of Cooperatives. All analyses refer to the year 2022.

The number of cooperatives, their weight in the private sector and the value added they generate by sector of activity. Year 2022.

Economic data refer to cooperatives for which financial statements are available in the AIDA database as of 06/02/2025. Value added and production value are calculated only for cooperatives with a non-negative production value and no insolvency or bankruptcy proceedings in progress.

Production value and value added by cooperative type. Year 2022.

The category "other" includes cooperative consortia, guarantee and credit consortia and cooperatives classified as "other cooperatives" in the MIMIT register.

The data on this page have been collected and analysed under the programme agreement between EURICSE and the Autonomous Province of Trento.