Censimento permanente delle imprese 2025: primi risultati / Permanent business census 2025, first results
A · Strong evidence First results of Istat's permanent business census, a national statistics survey of about 265,000 Italian firms with published tables and EU-standard AI questions; strong official evidence, though AI is one section of a broad report.
Summary based on the full text·Original: about 45 minutes to read
In short
Istat's press release and report of 29 October 2026 on the third edition of its multi-purpose survey within the permanent business census, with 2025 as reference year. The survey covers Italian industry and services firms with at least 3 staff, which produce 87.5% of value added. One in six such firms used at least one AI technology in 2025, rising to almost one in four among firms with 10 or more staff. Use is concentrated in text analysis and image generation; operational uses such as workflow automation or robotics remain rare. Innovation activity overall continued to shrink slightly.
Key numbers
- 16.5%Italian firms with at least 3 staff that adopted at least one AI technology in 2025 (23.2% of firms with 10 or more)
- 12.7%firms with at least 3 staff using AI to analyse text documents, the most common AI use (18.8% at 10 or more)
- 2.0%firms with at least 3 staff using AI to automate workflows (3.4% at 10 or more)
- 37.3%firms with at least 3 staff engaged in innovation in 2024-2025, down from 38.2% in 2016-2018
- 24.3%firms that ran training beyond mandatory training in 2024-2025, from 19.5% of micro to 80.1% of large firms
As reported by the source.
English·Web page·opens istat.it
What it reports
- AI adoption in 2025: 16.5% of firms with 3+ staff, 23.2% with 10+.
- Most used: text document analysis (12.7% and 18.8%), image and video generation (7.8% and 10.3%), speech-to-text (6.6% and 9.2%), language generation (5.7% and 8.8%).
- Least used: data analysis (2.3% and 3.9%), workflow automation (2.0% and 3.4%), machine movement (0.7% and 1.2%).
- Statistical analysis of co-adoption finds two clusters: a language-generative and multimedia block, and an operational-industrial block (machine learning, process automation, robotics, image recognition). Text analysis stands alone as a general-purpose use.
- Firms with inter-company relationships (supply chains, partnerships) report AI use more often in every size class.
- Share of firms with innovation activity fell from 38.2% (2016-2018) to 37.3% (2024-2025); in-house R&D fell 3.3 points among firms with 10+ staff.
- Non-mandatory training reached 24.3% of firms, with a steep size gradient.
How they got it
Fieldwork from October 2025 to March 2026 on a sample of about 265,000 firms representing 1,005,318 units with at least 3 staff, excluding agriculture, public administration and finance. AI questions follow the EU approach used in Istat's annual ICT survey, with a different reference period. Firm counts and value added come from Istat's business registers (2024); the Phi coefficient measures co-adoption between AI technologies.
Limits
- AI adoption is a yes/no per technology; intensity, spend and outcomes are not measured.
- Results are first estimates; fuller data is due in the first half of 2027.
- Figures are not directly comparable with the EU Community Innovation Survey, as Istat itself notes.
- Self-reported by firms.
Why it matters for companies
For a large economy, this is a clear baseline: AI use in Italian firms is mostly text and content work, while uses that change operations, such as automating workflows or analysing data, sit at 2-4%. The finding that text analysis says little about a firm's wider AI profile is a useful caution for anyone counting "AI adopters". Firms embedded in supply chains adopt more, which points to customers and partners as a channel for diffusion.
Key passages in translation
Quoted in English
Nel complesso, il 16,5% delle imprese con almeno 3 addetti ed il 23,2% delle imprese con almeno 10 addetti hanno adottato almeno una tecnologia IA nel 2025.
Overall, 16.5% of firms with at least 3 staff and 23.2% of firms with at least 10 staff adopted at least one AI technology in 2025.
Quoted in English
le applicazioni IA più rare sono anche quelle che presentano la maggiore complementarietà reciproca
The rarest AI applications are also those with the strongest complementarity with each other.
Quoted in English
sembra piuttosto un'attività general purpose all'interno dell'IA e poco informativa sul profilo IA dei relativi utilizzatori.
Text analysis seems rather a general-purpose activity within AI, and says little about the AI profile of the firms that use it.
Summary based on the full text. Read the original for the full argument and data.Read the original on istat.it