Businesses remain confident for 2026, focus on green and digital
The analysis of Unioncamere and Centro Studi Tagliacarne on 4,500 companies: expected growth in turnover, exports and employment despite the high energy costs.
Quick Look
- Despite international tensions and high energy prices, Italian companies maintain positive prospects for 2026 and 2027 on turnover, exports and employment.
- Young businesses are more confident.
- Investments in green, digital and AI are growing.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Analysis conducted by Unioncamere and Centro Studi Tagliacarne on approximately 4,500 manufacturing and service companies.
Companies remain positive about the near future, despite international tensions and high energy costs. For 2026, 27.5% of companies expect a growth in turnover of at least 3%, 19.8% an increase in exports and 15.8% in employment. An orientation that is also confirmed for the forecasts for 2027, 25.9% of companies estimate an increase in turnover, 20.6% in exports and 13% in employees.
Businesses led by young people are even more confident: for 2026, 37.6% estimate growth in turnover, 34.8% in sales abroad and 24.3% in employment, while for next year the shares stand at 33.3%, 34.1% and 21.4% respectively. This is what emerges from the analysis of Unioncamere and its Tagliacarne Study Center on a sample of approximately 4,500 manufacturing and service companies with between 5 and 499 employees.
However, the soaring energy bill on company costs worries more than 70% of companies and of these 43.4% estimate a reduction in profit margins. Also for this reason, within the next three years, 36.1% of companies plan to make green investments and 38% in digital: in particular, 21.8% of businesses have already made investments in AI between 2023 and 2025 or intend to do so in the next three years.
"Businesses seem to have learned to live with the situation of permanent uncertainty in the international context, reacting more quickly and adapting their strategies to a constantly evolving scenario", explains the president of Unioncamere, Andrea Prete, who added "despite the uncertainty, in fact, the confidence of entrepreneurs has remained substantially stable over the last three years, after the decline recorded in 2022 following the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war. In this context, the increase in energy costs is one of the more concrete consequences of international instability. It is therefore not surprising that over a third of companies respond by investing in green, especially through interventions aimed at energy saving, with a choice that combines sustainability and competitiveness".
Open Questions
- What will the actual impacts be on company margins in 2026?
