One of the main areas of joint activity between Unioncamere Emilia-Romagna and the Emilia-Romagna Regional Authority is the observatory on artisans, created in collaboration with the trade associations and designed to meet the need to provide structural and economic analyses of one of the key sectors of the regional economy. And it is precisely from the analysis of the latest reports that data emerges which deserves to be analyzed and included in the general economic framework, both national and local.

The rapidly changing geo-political scenario and the emerging international tensions demonstrate a context of perennial reconfiguration. The economy of Emilia-Romagna is confirmed as one of the most dynamic in the country, while highlighting some of the fundamental traits of national trends.

The economic analysis reveals a complex picture characterized by significant challenges for the artisan sector, with a particular impact on smaller businesses. The artisan manufacturing sector is showing signs of particular suffering, with a contraction in production that has reached -5.5%, significantly more marked than the decline recorded by the regional industry as a whole (-4.2%). This gap highlights how craft businesses are facing specific difficulties, probably related to their size and their position in the value chains.

The transformation taking place is clearly evident from the analysis of the entrepreneurial base: in September 2024, there were 24,770 craft businesses operating in the industrial sector, representing 20.6% of the regional total. The most significant figure regards the progressive consolidation of the entrepreneurial structure, with a reduction of 612 units in the last year (-2.4%), which mainly involved the most fragile legal forms.

The sectoral analysis is particularly interesting, revealing how this transformation is affecting the various sectors in different ways. The fashion industry emerges as the most affected sector, with a 4.0% contraction of the entrepreneurial base, followed by the wood and furniture industry (-4.0%). On the contrary, the mechanical, electrical and electronic sector shows greater resilience, with a limited decrease of 0.9%, confirming its role as a strong point of the regional artisan system.

An especially significant element emerges from the analysis of legal forms: while artisan corporations show a steady hold (+0.3%), there is a consistent reduction in partnerships (-5.5%) and individual companies (-1.9%). This trend suggests a process of progressive structuring of the sector towards more solid organizational forms.

The future prospects are somewhat worrying, as highlighted by the order acquisition process, which shows a negative trend (-5.6%) both on the domestic and foreign markets (-5.8%). Particularly significant is the figure regarding the degree of plant utilization, which has dropped to 67.5%, suggesting a significant unused production capacity.

The analysis of Unioncamere Emilia-Romagna highlights how the artisan sector is not only going through a negative economic phase, but also a deeper restructuring process. This process, if on the one hand it is leading to a reduction in the overall number of companies, on the other it is favoring the emergence of more structured and potentially more competitive companies, as demonstrated by the stability of corporations and the greater resilience of the more technologically advanced sectors.

These are important and valuable indications for understanding the reconfiguration of the artisan sector in the region and identifying strategies and political choices that lead to the strengthening of the sector, to make it more resilient to the challenges of the contemporary world.

For more in-depth knowledge of economic data and trends, we invite you to read the reports of the Observatory on Crafts of Emilia-Romagna. The documentation  is written in Italian language.