Creative Industries Shining in Emilia-Romagna
Revamped Culture Sector Eclipses €12.6 Billion in Emilia-Romagna's Economy in 2023, Accelerating its Growth.
Emilia-Romagna ain't just about good vibes, it's about cold, hard cash too! Culture is a significant economic engine in the region, employing over 102k workers and generating a whopping 12.6b euros in turnover. This stellar sector represents 3.8% of the total Emilia-Romagna economy, making it a force to be reckoned with. The future looks even brighter, with predictions for 2025 pointing towards continued growth.
These impressive figures are courtesy of the Regional Culture and Creativity Observatory. Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic and the devastating floods of two years ago, the sector is showing resilience.
Employment on the Rise
The number of employees in Cultural and Creative Industries (Icc) increased by a mighty 12% between 2019 and 2023. That's faster than the +7.2% growth overall in the regional productive system during the same period. The Creative Services sector, encompassing IT, architectural design, and advertising, leads the pack with 59,800 workers, making up 58.4% of the total.
The province of Bologna is the hotspot, with 34,600 employees (33.8%), followed closely by Modena (15,000 employees, 14.7%) and Reggio Emilia (11,000 employees, 10.7%). Reggio Emilia and Rimini showed impressive annual increases of 5.4% and 8.2%, respectively.
Support for a Stronger Cultural Sector
However, the cultural sector needs a helping hand to maintain its edge. According to the report, Iccs still need to fully recuperate their real added value (-1.9%), while the entire regional economy has grown by +5.0%. To achieve this, targeted support is essential to ensure competitiveness and resilience.
The sub-sectors show mixed results. Architecture and engineering services, for example, have surpassed their pre-pandemic added value level by ten percentage points, while Creative, Artistic, Entertainment, and Cultural Heritage Activities are at -3.9%. Cinema, Audiovisual, TV, Radio, and Music are at -6.8%, and Publishing is at -10.6%.
Focus on Society's Demand
Turning our attention to cultural consumption, families funnel most of their spending into Creative, Artistic, and Entertainment Services and library, archive, museum, and other cultural services (€1,589m). This is followed by Publishing (€878m) and Cinema, Audiovisual, TV, Radio, and Music (€368m).
Emilia-Romagna's Creative Sector: A Picture of Resilience and Growth
The creative industry in Emilia-Romagna is backed by initiatives like the Associazione Clust-ER Industrie Culturali e Creative (Clust-ER Create), which unites large companies, SMEs, foundations, cultural associations, and innovation centers. This cluster focuses on design-driven innovation, sustainability, social inclusion, and societal transformation, utilizing AI technologies to enhance creative workflows and audience engagement.
The sector's future is looking bright, underpinned by Emilia-Romagna's commitment to innovation and sustainability, aimed at promoting sustainable growth and employment opportunities. The region's strategic positioning as a hub for innovation, including supercomputing and AI, provides a solid foundation for the creative industry's growth.
Investments in strategic technologies, like digital, deep tech, clean, and efficient technologies, and significant events like Cersaie Bologna 2025, further bolster the creative sector by integrating innovative technologies into creative workflows and fostering collaboration across industries. However, more detailed economic reports are needed for specific data on employment growth and added value in the creative industry.
- The Creative Services sector, which includes IT, architectural design, and advertising, is thriving in Emilia-Romagna's economy, employing 59,800 workers and contributing significantly to the region's finance and business landscape.
- To maintain its competitiveness and ensure resilience, the cultural and creative industries in Emilia-Romagna require targeted support, particularly in sectors such as Creative, Artistic, Entertainment, and Cultural Heritage Activities, where the real added value is currently lagging behind pre-pandemic levels.
