Number of companies in Italy 2020, by region

The Italian region with the highest number of enterprises is Lombardy, in the North. In 2019, this region counted about 950,000 companies, while Lazio, in the Center, followed with over 650,000 firms. Milan, the capital city of Lombardy, is the most important financial and industrial center of Italy. Many large companies have their headquarters in this Northern city. Rome, located in Lazio, is the second main financial center of the country.

The geography of business

Despite the big role of Lombardy and Lazio as business centers, a broader picture of the distribution of companies nationwide shows an interesting scenario. According to data on the number of companies broken down by macro-region, most enterprises in Italy are in the South and on the main Islands, Sardinia and Sicily. An explanation behind these numbers might be the high prevalence, together with large companies, of many small businesses and individual entrepreneurships in the Southern regions and on the Islands.

Economic upturn for the South

Similarly, the growth rate of enterprises in the Southern regions and provinces is showing a promising economic upturn for these regions, which have always been observed economically as the tail-end of the country. In 2020, the province of Caserta, in the Southern region of Campania, ranked first while, Nuoro, in Sardinia, and Lecce, in Apulia, followed. Eventually, the number of enterprises in Naples, in Campania as well, grew by the same growth rate as Milan over the last year.