In Italy there are also many things that are not right, but as Ermete Realacci, president of the Symbola Foundation, likes to recall, "to understand the capabilities of Made in Italy, we need to go beyond the defects of our country and grasp its strengths". The annual report of the Symbola Foundation "Italy in 10 selfies": presenting Italy's primates, from the best-known ones such as fashion and agri-food, to those you don't expect, all linked by a common denominator: the sustainability.
“Our country – he declared Hermes Realacci, president of the Symbola Foundation – gives its best when it crosses its ancient chromosomes with an all-Italian way of doing business: which combines innovation and tradition, social cohesion, new technologies and beauty, the ability to speak to the world without losing ties with territories and communities, sustainability, production flexibility, competitiveness. The 10 selfies are a story that wants to be a reminder and an agenda. There is a lot to do but we can start from here to face not only our ancient ills but the future and the challenges it poses to us”.
The Symbola Foundation has curated the tenth edition of "Italy in 10 selfies" in collaboration with Unioncamere and Assocamerestero, (the association of Italian Chambers of Commerce abroad). While the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the Ministry of Ecological Transition sponsored the research.
In Italy in 10 selfies the strengths of the country
Italy can play a driving role "towards a more civilized and kinder economy, thanks to cohesion, the green transition and innovation". This is the story of the 10 selfies that capture the strengths, unknown and often underestimated, of a country that is instead at the top of sustainability and innovation, and which in Europe is on the podium of the circular economy with numbers that envy us also the very green Germany.
Recycling of special and urban waste
Italy, in his first selfie, is the European country with the highest recycling rate on the total of special and urban waste: 83,4%, higher than the EU average of 53,8% and even higher than the 70% of Germany. We are also second in the use of secondary raw materials.
Not just record numbers, but a reality that translates into an "annual reduction of emissions equal to 23 million tons of oil equivalent and 63 million tons of CO2 equivalent".
Italy also makes a good impression in theindex of efficiency in the use of resources, where it wins 274 points out of 300, a figure higher than the EU average (147 points) and that of Germany (167), France (162), Spain (131). This means that we are "capable of producing goods by reducing the use of raw materials, water, energy and the intensity of GHG emissions".
The supremacy in renewables
The case of Enel: the world's largest private operator in the sector of renewable. The Italian energy giant is the first private electricity company by managed capacity.
And as many as 531 Italian companies have invested in green products and technologies in the last five years. They are the ones that innovate the most, export the most, produce the most jobs.
Fashion and design
The fourth selfie, not surprisingly, concerns the spearhead of Made in Italy, the fashion. Italy is the first exporter in Europe and the second in the world of fashion products after China (347 billion), so much so that this is the second sector for contribution to the trade balance and about 75% of the turnover comes from exports (equal to 66,6 billion euros).
Italy is first in Europe also for turnover in the sector of design with 4,15 billion euros (19,9% of the EU total).
La shipbuilding Italy is the first in the world for the trade balance, equal to 3,1 billion dollars. Italian superyachts are also popular: orders at the end of December 2022 grew by 13%.
The primates of Italy that you do not expect
A surprise comes from the seventh selfie: Italy's primacy in the wine production and certified productions. We are the first in Europe (also ahead of France and Spain) and in the world for PDO, PGI and STG certified productions: 881 geographical indications of which 526 wines, 320 foods and 35 spirits.
The eighth selfie is something that few people know: the primacy in exports of devices for the preparation of hot drinks , cooking food. Professional coffee machines fall into the category.
Another surprise is the ninth selfie. Italy leads the export world of ultraviolet and infrared technologies in the medical field, a sector in which it far surpasses even the USA. A sector that strengthened during the Covid-19 pandemic and which employs 15,1% of workers in the sector on the continent.
The last selfie, but equally valuable, is the one that sees Italy as the protagonist of the European sports system with a positive balance of the trade balance of sports products with 894,1 million euros. The portfolio includes athletic footwear, gymnastics, athletics and swimming equipment, boating and water sports equipment, ski and snowboard boots and cross-country ski footwear.
