In Italy, thanks to the pioneering studies of Prof. Walter Santagata, the cultural and creative industries have been at the centre of scientific debates that have progressively defined its borders and elaborated methodologies for collecting quantitative and qualitative data. In recent years, thanks to the collaboration of public and private research bodies, the definition of the cultural and creative sector is identified by the 4-digit NACE codes as in the main international studies. In detail, macro-domains that refer to the cultural and creative industries (CCI) have been defined as follow: Architecture and design, Communication, Audiovisual and music, Video games and software, Book and Press, while those relating to the Performing arts and arts visual art and the historical and artistic heritage are defined as cultural and creative sectors (CCS).
Different authorities lead the Italian regulatory system for cultural industries, while ministries and public bodies develop policies, strategies and measures with a different level of coordination. Different government authorities govern the CCI: the press sector is governed by the Publishing Department at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, just as the rules relating to radio and video broadcasting are the responsibility of the Presidency of the Council and the Parliament. The Ministry of Culture governs the Film and Audiovisual sector like other cultural and creative sectors at national level while the activities abroad are the result of actions by both the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Latter acts through the Agency for Development Cooperation and the Italian Cultural Institutes, peripheral offices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Authority also regulates the Communication sector for Communications (AGCOM). The Ministry of Culture regularly finances activities for the promotion and dissemination of Italian cultural products by supporting international festivals in various sectors (Film, Publishing, Television, Live Entertainment). Through a specific programme called the Boarding Pass, The Ministry of Culture promotes the dissemination, co-production and hospitality of Italian live show projects at an international level. The Italian Agency for Development Cooperation supports heritage protection and conservation projects in various countries of the world using skills and technologies developed in Italy.
It can therefore be summarized that the main Italian strategies for the cultural and creative industries is to support the production of cultural contents, to support the distribution in Italy and abroad of Italian productions and to support the diffusion of Italian and European productions in Italy and abroad. The policies are developed through regulations aimed at financing the activities of the cultural industries directly by grants and indirectly by different systems: tax credits and purchase facilitations for certain categories of users: 18Apps for students, the Teachers’ Charter for teaching staff of the schools etc. In recent years, attention to new forms of dissemination of cultural products has been progressively increasing.
Through the service agreement, signed in April 2017, between RAI (the Italian public broadcaster) and the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, RAI has to provide television and film content through a digital platform (RaiPlay). Recently, on the initiative of the Ministry of Culture and the Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, a digital platform dedicated to the dissemination of content that represents Italian culture was developed in collaboration with a private company[1]. In the context of the health emergency, several private digital platforms have emerged to exploit opportunities for the dissemination of digital content in various areas of the cultural industries. Various companies are experimenting with new forms of production and distribution linked to digital and immersive technologies.
In 2017, a profound reform of the third sector was launched. It is partially still in the stages of implementation and will provide profound change in the associative structures and in Italian cultural enterprises. The third sector reform poses innovative and structural challenges to a large part of the live entertainment sector and cultural associations but also to small and medium-sized enterprises operating in the cultural and creative sector. Cultural industries are also the object of this new regulation, especially for the recognition of the social function of community radios and cultural tourism. The main objectives that the new legislation sets itself are greater transparency and greater evaluation of the impact generated by the organizations of the third sector. Public-private partnerships in Italy are mainly of a traditional type. The private sector intervenes through public tenders for the concession of services within public spaces (museums, archaeological sites, etc.). In recent years, actions taken have increasingly seen public actors (public bodies and universities) and private actors (associations, foundations, cooperatives) collaborate in the management of public cultural heritage. The third sector reform provides new forms of collaboration between third sector organizations and public administrations for the development of public-private partnerships. Due to the recent introduction of this new regulation, there are no cases of application.
Finally, the role of banking foundations as actors in public policies is experiencing a growing phase also with respect to the forms of support for third sector initiatives and involving private investors. One of these examples is the first joint-stock social enterprise funded entirely by private investors and the Cariplo Foundation, which is dedicated to technological innovation in the music sector.
Eurostat cultural statistics shows that cultural employment in Italy is stable in the last 10 years ranging from 3.4% to 3.6%.
Cultural employment
| 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | |
| % of total employment | 3.4 | 3.6 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.4 | 3.6 | 3.6 | 3.6 | 3.5 |
The cultural enterprises are about 5% of total enterprise and turnover from 2010 and 2018 increased from 2,0% to 1.6%.
Number of cultural enterprises and generated turnover as a percentage of total services
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | |
| Enterprise | NA | NA | 4.87 | 4.76 | 4.79 | 4.78 | 4.81 | 4.89 | 4.95 |
| Turnover | 2.01 | 1.83 | 1.81 | 1.74 | 1.7 | 1.68 | 1.65 | 1.59 | 1.64 |
The average number employed in the cultural sector is about 2%, ranging from 2.3% in 2010 to 2.1% in 2018.
Persons employed per enterprise in culture and in total services
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | |
| Average number | 2.3 | 2.3 | 2.3 | 2.2 | 2.2 | 2.2 | 2.1 | 2.1 | 2.1 |
The following table shows the added value in the cultural and creative sector and in the culture and creative industries. The main trend from 2010 to 2018 is a slow decline of all the cultural industries following the general trend of cultural services.
Publishing and press from 0,34% to 0,26%; Audiovisual from 0,18% to 0,15%; architecture and design slightly decreased from 0,15% to 0,9%; the other sectors seem to be stable also.
Added value in Culture and Creative Industries
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | |
| Value added in cultural sectors (% of value added in total services): | 3.08 | 2.79 | 2.72 | 2.67 | 2.56 | 2.5 | 2.32 | 2.25 | 2.26 |
| Publishing of books, newspapers, journals, periodicals and computer games | 0.34 | 0.29 | 0.29 | 0.27 | 0.27 | 0.25 | 0.26 | 0.24 | 0.26 |
| Motion pictures, video and television programme production, sound recording and music publishing activities | 0.18 | 0.15 | 0.14 | 0.14 | 0.14 | 0.14 | 0.17 | 0.16 | 0.15 |
| Programming and broadcasting activities | 0.37 | 0.35 | 0.32 | 0.32 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.24 | 0.23 | 0.28 |
| News agency activities | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 |
| Architectural activities | 0.15 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.09 | 0.09 | 0.09 | 0.09 | 0.09 | 0.09 |
| Specialised design activities | 0.14 | 0.13 | 0.13 | 0.13 | 0.15 | 0.15 | 0.13 | 0.13 | 0.13 |
The cultural and creative sector has a limited impact on the trade balance. Export in this sector represents about 0,78% of total Italian exports and increased from 2010 to 2019, while in the same period the cultural and creative services imports decreased from 1.8% to 1.7%.
Trade balance of cultural goods and services
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | |
| Exports of cultural goods as a percentage of total imports | 0.73 | 0.75 | 0.76 | 0.67 | 0.72 | 0.83 | 0.83 | 0.85 | 0.79 | 0.78 |
| Imports of cultural goods as a percentage of total exports | 1.81 | 1.72 | 1.77 | 1.87 | 1.84 | 1.85 | 1.76 | 1.78 | 1.71 | 1.74 |
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