Italy's trade fair sector counts about 200 companies and ranks third in the EU by production value

On the AEFI-Prometeia white paper's count, the Italian trade fair sector proper, meaning venue operators and event organisers together, consists of about 200 companies employing roughly 4,000 people, with a production value of 1.5 billion euros in 2023. AEFI members account for more than 1 billion euros of that production value and more than 2,600 of the employees. A wider reference universe, the fairs and congresses industry under ATECO code 82.30.00 as measured through Eurostat, is a different animal: 4,285 enterprises, 4.0 billion euros of production value and more than 16,800 employees in 2023, growing at a compound annual rate of 6.2 percent between 2014 and 2023. It is that wider definition that supports the European comparison. Within it Italy is third in the Union at 4.0 billion euros, behind Germany at 11.4 billion and France at 5.5 billion and ahead of Spain at 2.7 billion, out of an EU27 total of 32.2 billion. Italy's share is 12.3 percent, down 1.2 points on 2019, while Germany gained 1.4 points.