Breakdown of the audiovisual sector’s added value and employment by fields
By 2017, the productive economic system for the realization of Film&TV content registered a total added value of more than 6.7 billion euros. A value that accounts for just under half a percentage point of the total wealth produced by the country which amounts to over 1,537 billion euros.
The role of the audiovisual core appears to be significantly less substantial, with 50,219 direct employees* accounting for around 2% of the domestic employment (25,105,500), plus an additional 100,000, active in the connected supply chains**.
In terms of productivity, this means that when comparing the same number of employees, the audiovisual sector is able to produce more wealth for the same number of employees and that, therefore, it is considered a high added-value activity.
In dynamic terms, over the short period, in a climate of general difficulty the audiovisual sector experiences quite a few difficulties. The -2.7% of added value recorded between 2016 and 2017 goes against the national average trend of +2.0% in all economic sectors. The contraction affected all five classes, with Film&TV Distribution featuring the lowest change rate (-3.6%). Exhibition (-1.9%) and TV programming (-2.5%), on the other hand, despite a substantially recessive climate, record relatively better reduction rates than the sector’s average (-2.7%).
Even in regard to a medium-term period (2011-2017), the audiovisual sector lags behind Italy’s overall data. The substantial stagnation that affects the production of wealth within the sector (+ 0.1%) falls against the entire economy of the country (+ 4.7%), mainly due to the difficulties experienced by the Film&TV Production (-14.1%). Despite this, some fields show relatively better added value growth rates: Post-production (+ 5.7%) and TV programming (+ 8.6%).
Breakdown of the audiovisual sector’s added value and employment by fields
Year 2017 (absolute values and percentage changes)
Added value
| Ateco | Ateco classes | M euros | changes % | |
| 2016-‘17 | 2011-‘17 | |||
| 5911 | Film, video & TV shows production | 1.913 | -3,1 | -14,1 |
| 5912 | Film, video & TV shows post-production | 330 | -3,0 | 5,7 |
| 5913 | Film, video & TV shows distribution | 178 | -3,6 | -1,4 |
| 5914 | Exhibition | 724 | -1,9 | 3,1 |
| 6020 | TV programming and broadcasting | 3.577 | -2,5 | 8,6 |
| TOTAL AUDIOVISUAL SECTOR | 6.721 | -2,7 | 0,1 | |
| TOTAL ECONOMY | 1.537.869 | 2,0 | 4,7 |
Employment
| Ateco | Ateco classes | Employees | % changes | |
| 2016-‘17 | 2011-‘17 | |||
| 5911 | Film, video & TV shows production | 14.475 | -3,8 | -19,9 |
| 5912 | Film, video & TV shows post-production | 2.409 | -3,7 | 0,7 |
| 5913 | Film, video & TV shows distribution | 1.295 | -4,3 | -8,2 |
| 5914 | Exhibition | 6.048 | -2,6 | -6,4 |
| 6020 | TV programming and broadcasting | 25.992 | -3,2 | 1,6 |
| TOTAL AUDIOVISUAL SECTOR | 50.219 | -3,4 | -6,8 | |
| TOTAL ECONOMY | 25.105.500 | 1,1 | 1,1 |
Source: Symbola Foundation
(*) The data relating to the employees of the audiovisual core include a specific estimate of the underground numbers, consistently with the domestic account.
(**) Activities surrounding the audiovisual core also involve professionals who work in other sectors: from services to craftsmen, from manufacturing to catering. Starting from Istat’s intersector Input/Output tables, it is possible to estimate a number of indirect employees equal to about twice those employed in the core.