After two years of setbacks, in 2025 the revenues of the 1.700 largest Italian companies they returned to growing up albeit only by 0,5%, after -6,2% in 2023 and -3% in 2024. The recovery was supported by exports (+3,3%) which offset the weakness of the domestic market (-1%). In the manufacturing Turnover increased by 1,7%, thanks to foreign sales (+2,9%) while domestic sales remained substantially stable (+0,3%).
The numbers from the Mediobanca survey
According to the latest edition of Cumulative Data, the survey by the Mediobanca Research Area For almost all Italian companies with more than 500 employees, profitability remained virtually unchanged, while real investments reached €35,5 billion, the highest level in the last decade. Employment has also grown over the last 10 years (+11,8%), but only in private companies, not in public ones. In any case, companies have created value: €9.300 per year each from 2016 to 2025.
Over the decade, the nominal turnover of the companies examined increased by 39,6 %, while exports and sales on the Italian market rose by 45,6% and 36,4%, respectively. Manufacturing performed even better, with a 41,3% increase, thanks to a 46% increase in international markets and a 36,5% increase in domestic markets. The so-called Made in Italy and IV Capitalism remained the most dynamic drivers, with ten-year revenue growth of 55,3% and 50,4%, respectively.
Mediobanca Survey: A Polarized Picture
However, the sectoral photography is polarized: plant (+ 142,5%) and construction (+131,1%) lead the ranking, instead radio and television broadcasting (-12,5%), printing-publishing (-4,4%) And telecommunications (-3,7%) are the only sectors below the levels at the beginning of the period. If we analyse the individual supply chains, it emerges that within the means of transportFor example, the automotive sector recorded a drop in turnover of 8,4%, with exports down by 3,1% and domestic sales down by 18,5%. shipbuilding on the contrary, it increased its turnover by 115,8%, supported by increases of 122,9% abroad and 100,5% on the domestic market, and the railway sector grew by 86,8%, with domestic sales up 119%.
On the front of the profitability In 2025, the EBIT margin (net operating margin) of the 1.700 companies stood at 6,7%, stable compared to 2024 and slightly lower than the 6,9% of 2023. After declining to 4,1% in 2020, profitability has gradually recovered, bringing the average for the three-year period 2023-2025 to 6,8%, compared to 5,6% in the previous seven years. However, there are significant differences: public companies closed last year with an EBIT margin of 9,3%, private companies 6%.
On the investment front compared to 2019, the increase involved both public companies (+24,9%, from 11,6 to 14,5 billion euros) and private companies (+20,7%, from 17,5 to 21,1 billion). growth It was concentrated mainly in industrial activities, increasing by 32,8% to 25,7 billion, while the tertiary sector showed an almost unchanged trend (+1,6%, to 9,9 billion). In manufacturing, it rose to 14,7 billion (+13% on 2019). As regards theoccupation then the most significant increases are observed in the IV Capitalism, which grew by 17%, in foreign-controlled companies (+20%) and in Made in Italy (+15,7%).
The progression continued in 2025, with +1,3% in the entire sample and +0,9% in manufacturing. Over the decade, the leather and hide sector The sector saw a 47,4% increase in employment, 37,4% in plant engineering, and 34,3% in retail distribution. Transport and construction saw increases of 26,8% and 25,5%, respectively. The largest declines were in telecommunications (-26,8%), followed by printing and publishing (-13,5%), household appliances and radio and television equipment (-13,2%), textiles (-6,9%), and radio and television broadcasting (-6%).
In the decade 2016-2025, theEva 2.0 The average per capita income—the measure of a company's ability to create value after remunerating all stakeholders, including equity holders—of €9.300 per year comes from public companies, which generated an average of €18.300 per employee, nearly three times the €6.800 generated by private companies. However, seven out of twenty-six sectors had a negative average per capita EVA 2.0: telecommunications recorded -€36.900 per employee, radio and television broadcasting -€21.300, and plant engineering -€18.800. This was followed by the construction of transportation equipment (-€6.500), household appliances and radio-TV equipment (-€2.700), construction companies (-€2.600), and clothing (-€500).
Mediobanca: in 57 years, corporate turnover has grown more than GDP.
In 57 years, moreover, the real turnover of Italian companies grew more than the country's GDP. Going backward, we find that between 1968 and 2025, the real turnover of the main Italian companies increased by 190,4%, compared to a 162,6% increase in GDP. This gap developed through distinct phases: until the mid-1980s, turnover grew faster than gross domestic product; subsequently—and until the early 2000s—industrial restructuring slowed the growth of the main Italian companies; finally, from the mid-2000s onwards, their turnover began to expand again at a relatively faster rate.
Mediobanca: Productivity increased more than labor costs
In the decade 2016-2025 the nominal labor productivity increased more than per capita labor costs: +22,6% versus +18,8%. This is, again, one of the indications of the Mediobanca analysis. The differential is present both in industrial activities, where the two indicators grew by 25,1% and 21,3%, respectively, and in manufacturing, with +23,4% and +21,7%. The service sector followed a different trend: productivity decreased by 0,4%, while labor costs increased by 10,2%.
However, labor cost dynamics remain disappointing in real termsTaking into account cumulative inflation of 21,4%, labor costs per employee in 2025 were 2,2% lower than in 2016. The gap increases to 5,9% if we assume 2021 as the baseline, before the price acceleration. The recovery that began subsequently places the 2025 value substantially in line with 2022 (-0,1%) and above the levels of 2023 (+2,4%) and 2024 (+0,5%), without, however, bringing it back to the real value of 2021. According to Mediobanca's analysis, to fully recover the loss of purchasing power Accumulated compared to 2021, the average labor cost per employee was expected to reach approximately €71.500 in 2025, compared to the €67.300 actually recorded, a gap of approximately €4.200. This amount corresponds to 36,9% of the average annual per capita value generated by the 1.700 companies in the five-year period 2021-2025. The estimate rises to €6.400 in public companies, equal to 38,5% of the value generated, and drops to €3.300 in private companies, representing 35,2%.
