Italy is the country of small businesses but the banking system seems to have forgotten it. In the last 10 years, in fact, the loans against them has drastically reduced. The alarm was sounded by a report by First Cisl, the union of banks and insurance companies, prepared in collaboration with the Fiba Cisl Foundation, on the occasion of the World Day of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.
Between 2011 and 2021 direct loans to small businesses (*) decreased by 32%, a threefold decrease compared to that recorded for all residents in Italy net of financial institutions (-10,9%).
Psmall businesses, sharply declining loans
| DATE OF THE OBSERVATION | 31/12/2011 | 31/12/2015 | 31/12/2020 | 31/12/2021 | DISC % 2021/2011 |
| PRODUCTION HOUSEHOLDS (UP TO 5 EMPLOYEES) | 101,18 | 92,33 | 79,80 | 79,89 | -21,0% |
| NON-FINANCIAL CORPORATIONS AND PRODUCER HOUSEHOLDS | 994,76 | 885,56 | 747,84 | 743,06 | -25,3% |
| SMALL ENTERPRISES (*) | 190,17 | 167,57 | 131,48 | 129,29 | -32,0% |
| TOTAL RESIDENTS NET OF MONETARY FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS | 1.981,46 | 1.918,60 | 1.764,46 | 1.764,67 | -10,9% |
(*) According to the Bank of Italy aggregate: limited partnerships and general partnerships, simple partnerships, de facto companies and sole proprietorships with fewer than 20 employees.
Small business, employment holds
- Despite the scarcity of credit, the fabric of small businesses still remains the main employment basin in Italy. If we look at the comparison with the European Union partners, in our country the share of workers employed by companies with fewer than 10 employees is much higher (42%) than the average (29%) but above all compared to Germany (19% ) and France (23%).
| EMPLOYED PEOPLE | TOTAL | FROM 0 TO 9 PEOPLE EMPLOYED | FROM 10 TO 19 PEOPLE EMPLOYED | FROM 20 TO 49 PEOPLE EMPLOYED | FROM 50 TO 249 PEOPLE EMPLOYED | AT LEAST 250 PEOPLE EMPLOYED |
| EUROPEAN UNION – 27 COUNTRIES | 100% | 29% | 9% | 11% | 16% | 36% |
| GERMANY | 100% | 19% | 10% | 12% | 17% | 42% |
| GREECE | 100% | 44% | 12% | 13% | 14% | 17% |
| SPAIN | 100% | 36% | 9% | 11% | 13% | 32% |
| FRANCE | 100% | 23% | 7% | 9% | 13% | 49% |
| ITALY | 100% | 42% | 11% | 10% | 13% | 24% |
| POLAND | 100% | 34% | 8% | 9% | 15% | 34% |
- The resilience of the fabric of small businesses is also demonstrated by the overall number of employees, which from 2012 to 2020, despite the problems in accessing credit, recorded a minimal change. If companies with fewer than 10 employees are taken as a reference once again, the number has decreased marginally but above all remains almost double compared to that of large companies
Companies in Italy: how many there are and how they are structured
| NUMBER OF ACTIVE COMPANIES | NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES IN ACTIVE COMPANIES (AVERAGE ANNUAL VALUES) | |||||
| EMPLOYEE CLASS | 2020 | 2012 | 2020 composition | 2020 | 2012 | 2020 composition |
| 0-9 | 4.211.615 | 4.229.730 | 95,1 | 7.489.913 | 7.803.370 | 43,7 |
| 10-49 | 187.674 | 187.514 | 4,2 | 3.373.193 | 3.341.020 | 19,7 |
| 50-249 | 23.831 | 21.606 | 0,5 | 2.324.937 | 2.088.952 | 13,6 |
| 250 AND MORE | 4.187 | 3.602 | 0,1 | 3.949.864 | 3.488.868 | 23,0 |
| TOTAL | 4.427.307 | 4.442.452 | 100,0 | 17.137.906 | 16.722.210 | 100,0 |
- “The collapse of loans to small businesses – is the conclusion of the general secretary of First Cisl Riccardo Colombani – is a serious problem that politics can no longer ignore. The resources of the Pnrr constitute an extraordinary opportunity for the restart. Unfortunately, the constant disengagement of banks from the territories weighs heavily, which led to the closure of 8.441 branches from 2015 to 2021, a percentage equal to approximately 28% of the total. Bank desertification runs the risk of being very costly since small and very small enterprises need the necessary credit to finance the development of business activities linked to the realization of public investments of the Pnrr. Proximity and direct relationship with customers – concludes Colombani – are elements that cannot be substituted by the push for digital innovation”.
