from geopolitics From Hormuz to the warehouses in the Vicenza plain, it is a short step. The phase of international tension which remains very high due to the uncertain developments of the conflict between the US, Israel and Iran, is demonstrating its effects practical on the first ones industrial production data for 2026. He does this with particular vigor to Vicenza, an industrial province with one of the highest export vocations in the country and with widespread connections in the main international value chains.
Vicenza's manufacturing output fell 1,7% in the first quarter of 2026.
The 171st economic survey conducted by the offices of Confindustria Vicenza detects in the first quarter a sharp contraction in manufacturing production (-1,7%). The data signals a deterioration both in terms of the quarter (-0,2% compared to the fourth quarter of last year) and the year-on-year (-0,7% compared to the first quarter of 2025). This is a weakness in the economic cycle that has persisted for some time: for three years, in fact, production figures for Vicenza-based companies have been negative. With evident signs of greater concern in some sectors and less evident in others. "Some factors are clearly beyond the control of businesses and national politics, starting with wars, geopolitical tensions, and risks to international trade routes. But precisely because part of the scenario does not depend on us, there are no longer any excuses for everything we can control," he commented. Barbara Beltrame Giacomello, head of the Vicenza industrialists.
Weak markets and stable employment: the business picture
From the point of view of the reference markets, the contraction of the domestic market by 3%, after the -0,2% of the previous quarter. Sales to the European Union were substantially stable, with a negative variation (-0,2%), while markets outside the European Union decreased by 3,5%, reversing the positive data of the previous quarter. employment framework However, it remains stable: 61% of companies report unchanged staffing, 20% an increase and 19% a reduction. Despite the slow pace of orders, Vicenza companies still have to deal with the chronic and structural problem of lack of technical profiles e specialized, regardless of the brilliance of the economic moment.
Energy and competitiveness: businesses raise alarm to the government
"Under these conditions, our economy and jobs will not hold up for much longer. The weakness of the domestic market, hit harder than others by inflation due primarily to energy costs, and global uncertainty are reducing businesses' room for maneuver," he emphasizes. Beltrame GiacomelloVicenza's industrialists rank energy investment as the top priority for government intervention, the primary and fundamental weakness of national manufacturing competitiveness. "Photovoltaic, nuclear, and grid and storage facilities essential for energy security and industrial competitiveness cannot remain trapped in indefinite procedures. The implementing decrees on hyper-depreciation can no longer wait. We need a few priority dossiers, defined responsibilities, and public deadlines."
The openness of Vicenza's industrialists, and more generally those of the Veneto, toward the government still seems to hold, but the warning regarding the "few priority issues" that absolutely must be completed before the end of the legislative session has been expressed very clearly.
