Italy's entertainment spending hits €4.3bn in 2025 as live concerts pass the billion-euro mark
Total spending on shows and entertainment in Italy rose 7% to €4.3 billion last year, even as the number of events and spectators dipped slightly. Live concerts drove the growth, surpassing one billion euros in box-office revenue for the first time.
The 2025 SIAE report, presented in Rome on 26 June 2026, recorded 3,343,656 events (down 0.8% from 2024) and 253,067,237 spectators (down 0.1%), yet all the main economic indicators improved. Average spend per spectator, average box-office per event and per venue all rose.
Live concerts reached 67,890 events (+3.6%), 31.5 million spectators (+8.7%) and €1,162,064,376.70 in spending (+17.5%), becoming the single largest economic driver of the Italian entertainment system. The Pop, Rock and Leggera segment alone accounts for 57.7% of supply, 83.8% of the public and 91.6% of total concert expenditure. The summer months concentrated 48.8% of concert-goers and 53.7% of spending.
Cinema box-office held steady at about €540 million but recorded a 2.3% drop in admissions. Four Italian films made the annual top ten: Zalone's Buen Camino, Paolo Genovese's Follemente, Ferzan Ozpetek's Diamanti and Gennaro Nunziante's Io sono la fine del mondo. Early data for the first five months of 2026 already show a 20% rebound in attendance.
Theatre posted across-the-board growth with 154,900 performances (+1.2%), 29.7 million spectators (+5.3%) and €641.2 million in spending (+10.8%). Football still represents more than 70% of sports expenditure, while individual sports saw a tennis-fuelled boom (attendance +30.7%, spending +23.5%).
Live concerts surpass one billion euros in spending for the first time, becoming the main economic engine of Italian entertainment, generating 27% of total spending.
Music and live entertainment are one of the most powerful and strategic levers of experiential tourism.
