Design Economy: datas and numbers

Fondazione Symbola, Deloitte Private, POLI.design and ADI, the Italian Association for Industrial Design, together with CUID, Interni Magazine, AIAP and AIPI, AlmaLaurea, the Guglielmo Tagliacarne Study Centre of the Italian Chambers of Commerce, the ADI Design Museum and Circolo del Design, and under the patronage of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy, presented the findings of the “Design Economy 2026” report last April. For several years, the study has sought to increase awareness of the value of design for the competitiveness of Italy’s production system.

The European design sector comprises around 295,000 companies, generating total turnover of €31 billion, up 3.2 per cent compared with 2023 and 23.8 per cent over the three-year period. Employment also recorded a positive trend, with more than 356,000 people employed, an increase of 4.8 per cent year on year and 16.1 per cent over three years.

An analysis of individual countries’ performance in terms of people employed in the sector confirms Italy’s leading position. In 2024, the country consolidated its EU record for the number of design-sector employees, with 54,000 people, accounting for 21.5 per cent of the European total. Italy ranked ahead of France, with 14.9 per cent, and Germany, with 14 per cent. The Netherlands and Poland completed the top five, accounting for 9.1 and 8.5 per cent respectively.

As observed in relation to employment, the economic value generated by design is also strongly concentrated in countries with the most advanced industrial economies. More than half, or 51 per cent, of the European design industry’s turnover is generated in just three countries: Italy, accounting for 20 per cent of the value produced across the EU, Germany, with 17.6 per cent, and France, with 13.4 per cent. Including the Netherlands, with 11.8 per cent, and Sweden, with 6.8 per cent, brings the share close to 70 per cent of the total.

ITALY

Italy’s design sector comprises 54,000 operators, including companies, freelancers and self-employed professionals, which generated €4 billion in added value and employed 76,000 people. Estimates based on 2024 data from the Italian National Institute of Statistics, Istat, provide an overview of the economic value of design at regional level. The figures once again confirm the high concentration of design-related activities in Lombardy, which accounts for 33.4 per cent of the sector’s total added value and 28.7 per cent of overall employment. It is followed by Emilia-Romagna, with 13.3 per cent of national added value, Veneto, with 10.9 per cent, and Piedmont, with 10.3 per cent.

In terms of growth trends over the past year, the regions recording the most significant increases in added value were Molise, up 2.9 per cent, Marche, up 2.2 per cent, and Lombardy, up 2.1 per cent.

Milan confirmed its leading position, with more than 7,300 active companies. It was followed by Rome, Turin, Florence, Bologna and Brescia. Together, these six provinces account for more than one third of Italy’s design companies.

In terms of value generated, Milanese companies alone account for 19 per cent of the wealth produced by the sector nationwide. Turin follows with 6.8 per cent and Rome with 5.3 per cent, while Bologna ranks fourth with a 3.6 per cent share. In terms of growth, the largest increases were recorded in the Sardinian provinces of Nuoro, up 4.5 per cent, and Oristano, up 4.2 per cent, followed by Ragusa, up 3.7 per cent, Catanzaro, up 3.4 per cent, and Campobasso, up 3.1 per cent. These are areas in which design still generates modest absolute values, but where production activities linked to culture and creativity are experiencing a strong recovery. In employment terms, the provinces recording the most significant increases were Ferrara, up 6.4 per cent, Belluno, up 6.3 per cent, Messina, up 5.7 per cent, Forlì-Cesena, up 5.5 per cent, and Teramo, up 5.3 per cent, driven by machinery, clothing and fashion-accessory production.

In terms of specialisation, consistently with the findings at regional level, Fermo stands out, with design accounting for 0.64 per cent of the province’s total added value. It is followed by Como, with 0.47 per cent, Novara, with 0.43 per cent, Reggio Emilia, with 0.42 per cent, and Modena, with 0.37 per cent. The observations made regarding wealth creation also apply to employment. Milan ranks first, accounting for 14.3 per cent of all design employees in Italy, followed by Turin, with a share of 6.9 per cent, Rome, with 5.2 per cent, and Bologna, with 3.7 per cent.

In terms of specialisation, measured as designers as a share of total provincial employment, the provinces of Fermo, with 0.85 per cent, and Como, with 0.73 per cent, once again stand out for the same reasons. They are followed by Novara, with 0.64 per cent, Modena, with 0.58 per cent, and Reggio Emilia, with 0.54 per cent.

One significant finding in the report is that 56.2 per cent of design organisations are considering the adoption of targeted strategies to support their growth. Particularly among micro-enterprises, the preferred options focus on strengthening cooperation by bringing in an economic partner, cited by 20.8 per cent, joining forces with other professionals, cited by 19.2 per cent, or creating or joining business networks, cited by 13.8 per cent.

“Italy’s leadership in design,” commented Ermete Realacci, President of Fondazione Symbola, “confirms the sector’s important role as an intangible infrastructure of Made in Italy, as demonstrated by the Salone del Mobile in Milan, and its leading role in the sustainability challenge. Amid the green and digital transitions, design is once again being called upon to give shape, meaning and beauty to the future. Design is also strategic to developing a new generation of products that combine beauty with the principles of the circular economy: efficiency, lower use of materials and energy, recyclability and reusability. A humanistic approach to design can also help us tame artificial intelligence. As stated in the Assisi Manifesto, ‘addressing the climate crisis with courage is not only necessary but also represents a major opportunity to make our economy and society more human-centred and, therefore, better equipped for the future’.”

“Digital transformation and, more specifically, the introduction of artificial intelligence,” added Ernesto Lanzillo, Partner and Deloitte Private Leader in Italy, “represent a priority for the sustainable development and growth of the entire design sector. To maximise its impact, however, it is essential to redesign processes and operating models around AI, ensuring that human input is enhanced rather than automated. The right skills and the appropriate use of these solutions by design professionals can provide an acceleration capable of increasing efficiency, reducing business costs and optimising resources. Integrating AI at the heart of organisations is a challenge for the entire sector and cannot be separated from the ability to connect technological tools with the managerial requirements typical of Made in Italy, creating operational and strategic links capable of driving change.”

“This edition of the report once again confirms the attractiveness of Lombardy, and Milan in particular, to Italian and international design students. At the same time, enrolments are increasing significantly in central and southern Italy, often in connection with local and regional production specialisations. It is important to note that these encouraging figures for education are progressing alongside employment data: design remains a healthy sector, with a substantial alignment between the nature of people’s studies and the type of work they perform,” commented Cabirio Cautela, Board Member of POLI.design at the Politecnico di Milano. “The report also highlights the now well-established position of AI as a genuine working infrastructure used daily by designers and organisations. Generative AI is perceived as a process accelerator rather than a creative agent, a role in which human input remains central.”

“The data in the Design Economy 2026 report,” added Luciano Galimberti, President of ADI, “confirm the solidity and central role of a sector that not only generates economic value and skilled employment, but also makes a decisive contribution to building the identity of Made in Italy worldwide. It is a cultural infrastructure even before it is an economic one: a critical tool capable of guiding innovation and shaping production processes. The figures portray a mature system in which Milan acts as a driving hub within an increasingly widespread network. In this context, the challenge is to govern technological and social transformations while reaffirming the role of design as a conscious, responsible and profoundly humanistic practice.”

With regard to design education, both the number of courses and the number of institutions involved are increasing. In the 2024/2025 academic year, Italy had a total of 100 active institutions and 369 study programmes, up 5 per cent. Lombardy, and Milan in particular, remain Italy’s main design hub, accounting for 28.7 per cent of university students and 36.5 per cent of students enrolled in AFAM institutions, Italy’s higher education system for art, music and dance. The region also attracts 61.9 per cent of international students. Alongside this concentration, significant growth has been recorded in central and southern Italy, where enrolments increased by 18.5 and 19.2 per cent respectively. This is contributing to a gradual rebalancing and a broader distribution of skills, often in connection with local production specialisations. Employment outcomes confirm design as a high-return field, with strong employment levels. Five years after graduation, 92.4 per cent of master’s graduates in design are employed, compared with a national average of 89.7 per cent, while there is also a strong alignment between studies and employment.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

The decision to focus on generative artificial intelligence, or GenAI, is based on several interconnected factors. These include the technology’s widespread adoption across different generations of design professionals, the proliferation of platforms equipped with Large Language Models, or LLMs, which may appear similar but differ in their training methods and output-generation processes, the expected acceleration in the maturity and awareness with which certain platforms are used and, finally, the aim of providing a more detailed thematic analysis than in the 2024 edition.

Overall, levels of preparedness for GenAI are concentrated mainly in the middle range. Some 52.4 per cent of design professionals participating in the survey described their level as “medium”, indicating widespread adoption but skills that are not yet fully consolidated. A “high” level of preparedness was reported by 35.4 per cent of organisations, compared with 13.8 per cent of individual designers, highlighting the relative advantage enjoyed by structured organisations in terms of technological maturity.

For one fifth of respondents, the level of preparedness remains “low”, while only 6.2 per cent report a minimal level of preparation. The most frequently cited skills among the sample as a whole concern “prompt design & strategy”, selected by 65 per cent, knowledge of “ethical issues related to copyright”, cited by 52.4 per cent, “visual & content editing”, cited by 42.7 per cent, and “sustainable design” skills, cited by almost 40 per cent. These were followed closely by “rapid prototyping using hybrid tools”, at 39 per cent. Some 94 per cent of designers and organisations have strengthened their generative AI skills over the past two years.