Forecast: Italy E&M sector at €42bn by 2027
October 20, 2023
The Entertainment and Media (E&M) sector in Italy is worth over €35.9 billion, a value higher than pre-pandemic levels, thanks to a 3.7 per cent growth in 2022, according to research by PwC.
The research analysed the performance of the 13 main segments – from cinema to music-radio-podcast, from video to books, and then periodicals, newspapers, B2B, advertising segments, video games, AI, augmented reality, virtual and metaverse, as well as telecommunications.
Consumer spending increased by 3.4 per cent in 2022, while advertising spending grew by 4.3 per cent in the same period.
The E&M sector will continue on the growth path in the coming years, reaching a forecasted value of €42.1 billion by 2027.
This growth is projected to be driven by a number of factors, including: increasing consumer spending on entertainment and media; continued growth of digital segments, such as online advertising and OTT streaming services; and investment in new technologies, such as VR and AR.
The digital channel should grow in terms of CAGR 2022-2027 by 5 per cent, driven by increased revenues from online advertising and OTT streaming services and made possible by the development of high-speed and reliable internet access networks.
The E&M sector is expected to be relatively resilient to macroeconomic uncertainty and geopolitical instability.
The segments of the E&M sector that will lead growth in the coming years are those that are most capable of providing consumers with new immersive and engaging experiences, such as VR (CAGR +14.9 per cent).
Other segments that should perform well include the OTT component of the video segment, which is expected to reach 30 million users by 2027.