Milan In Figures
MILAN IN FIGURES
The Economic-Productive Fabric
Over 6% of Italian companies and 35% of Lombardy companies are concentrated in the Milan
area. The industrial companies of Milan and its province produce approximately 11% of the
added value of Italian industry and export a share equal to 12% of national exports (over 44
thousand million Euro).
Milan
Italy
Wealth generated (2006)
132 billion euro
10% of Italian GDP
Pro-capita annual GDP (2006)
€ 34.088
€ 22.387
Number active companies (2008)
293.108
5.316.104
Employment rate (2008)
Total
68,7%
58,7%
Female
61,0%
47,2%
Unemployment rate (2008)
3,9%
6,7%
Thanks to the presence of a very dynamic productive fabric, characterised by positive
interaction between the industrial and tertiary sectors, the province of Milan is the centre of
excellence for business services. The province is home to 53% of the region’s local sector units
and 11% of Italian units, while 64% of regional sector employees and 17% of national sector
employees are also concentrated here.
The Milan enterprises are leaders in important commodity sectors:
• instrumental mechanics;
• furnishings - design - fashion;
• chemical and pharmaceutical;
• health-healthcare;
• media and publishing;
• information technology;
• finance and insurance;
• management consulting and corporate organisation;
• marketing – market research – advertising – public relations.
International Vocation
Milan is home to over 3,000 foreign invested enterprises, equal to 42% of those present in
Italy, and to thousands of small and medium sized enterprises, as well as to large national
enterprises. On the whole it is a multi-sector, multi-dimensional, international, integrated
system, and one that represents the driving force of the Italian economy and is one of the
main pivots of the European economy (the Lombardy region is one of Europe’s four engines).
Milan is also home to 91 consulates, 16 foreign government commercial offices, 34 foreign
government tourist offices or boards and 17 bilateral chambers of commerce. Thanks to these
figures Milan ranks second to New York among the non-capital cities with the highest consular
presence in the world, proving its international prestige.
Finance
Milan is Italy’s financial capital, with 130 banking institutes, of which approximately half are
foreign, and with thousands of financial brokerage companies. The Milan Stock Exchange,
one of Europe’s most important, has 336 listed companies, average daily trades equal to 4.1
billion Euro and in 2008 the market capitalisation of listed companies totalled 372 billion
Euro, equal to more than 23% of Italian GDP.
Research, Education and Culture
In the Milan area there are seven universities, some with long-standing and prestigious
tradition, others of more recent construction, and many of the country’s most highly qualified
research centres and laboratories. The fact that approximately 25% of Italian patents are
deposited in the Milan area bears witness to the area’s propensity for technical innovation, as
do the investments in research and development, estimated to be in the order of 30% of the
entire investments made at national level, a substantial part of which is sustained in Milan by
private enterprises.
The city boasts numerous important cultural centres like the Scala Theatre, the Piccolo Theatre,
the Biennial Art Exhibition, the Triennial Design Exhibition, the Science and Technology
Museum. In Milan there are 60 museums, including the Brera Gallery and the Ambrosiana
Gallery, 11% of national heritage, 150 galleries and art exhibitions.
Milan Trade Fair
The Milan Trade Fair is Europe’s leading exhibition centre and one of the most important at
world level. The trade fair system of Lombardy’s regional capital is divided into two exhibition
areas: the New Rho-Pero Pole, designed by the architect Massimiliano Fuksas and
inaugurated in 2005, and the City Pole, created from the redevelopment of the historical
Milan trade fair district. The two poles cover a total surface area of over 710,000m2; the New
Pole has a gross indoor surface area of 345,000 m2 and an outdoor surface area of 60,000
m2, while the City Pole has a total gross indoor exhibition area of 115,000 m2.
In addition to hosting a great number of internationally important trade fairs and events each
year, Fieramilano provides Italy’s most extensive congress area which from 2011, thanks to
expansion plans that have already been drawn up and are currently undergoing
implementation, will become the largest congress centre in Europe.
Milan in 2015
In 2015 Milan will host the Universal Exposition on the theme of “Feeding the Planet, Energy
for Life”. The EXPO 2015 will be an event that will give international visibility to the tradition,
creativity and innovation of Milan and of Italy in the fields of alimentation and quality of life,
science for health, education and training, solidarity and international cooperation.
In the 6 months of the exhibition 7,000 events are scheduled, with 29 million tickets sold for a
total of 21 million visitors. The EXPO site will extend over 1.1 million m2 and in preparation for
the event infrastructural investments worth over 14 billion euro are scheduled throughout the
Milan area.
