Social economy in Italy

Numbers and distribution

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.

398 612

ORGANISATIONS (2022)

1 529 185

EMPLOYEES (2022)

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 2022.

Weight of the social economy on the private economy by region. 2022.

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 a summary of data on the number of enterprises listed in the National Register of the Third Sector (RUNTS, updated as of December 20, 2024). The data have been supplemented with information from the MIMIT Cooperative Register and the Aida Bureau Van Dijk database. Enterprises that, as of the specified date, were in liquidation, undergoing insolvency proceedings, or closed are excluded.

Number of social enterprises by province.

Number of social enterprises per 10,000 inhabitants by province.

Social enterprises by sector of activity.

Social enterprises by legal form.

THE ECONOMIC VALUE OF COOPERATIVES

The graphs in this section draw on data from the MIMIT Register of Cooperatives and the Aida Bureau Van Dijk database to analyze the turnover and value added by cooperatives across various sectors. All data are from 2021.

The number of cooperatives, their weight in the private sector and the value added they generate by sector of activity. Year 2021.

The typology ‘others’ includes Co-operative Consortia, guarantee and credit consortia and co-operatives defined in the MIMIT Register as ‘Other Co-operatives’. N.a. refers to cooperatives whose typology is not available.

Total turnover and value added by cooperative type. Year 2021.

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.