The recent Gem Italy Report 2025-2026 it conveys the image of a country that is struggling to renew its productive fabric. It is at least sobering that Europe’s second largest manufacturing sector, as well as a member of the G7, ranks so low in international rankings, with a much lower propensity for self-employment and the start-up of new businesses than equivalent economies.
But the most interesting data that emerges from the report does not only concern the volume of initiatives launched, but who promotes them and, above all, with what motivations.
More projects for opportunity than necessity
In Italy, starting your own business is less and less a forced choice and more and more a decision for personal growth. The majority of new commercial projects, over 80%, are opened to seize a market opportunity, while the push linked to the state of necessity remains a minority.
Furthermore, those who decide to take the big step move from a position of stability. The most significant data is in fact that the majority of new business owners, almost 85%, are already employed when they decide to invest in themselves.
The independent Italian population is therefore made up of people who are in an advanced stage of their professional career. The birth of a new business is perceived more as a natural evolution than as an alternative to unemployment.
The average profile of those who start a business
The picture that emerges from Gem Report it undermines the traditional image of the young graduate who opens his own start-up, showing a decidedly more complex profile.
From a demographic point of view, the aptitude for entrepreneurship is weaker among young people and grows progressively in the central groups, until it reaches its peak between 45 and 54 years of age. It is precisely in this range that the highest share of choices dictated by economic need is concentrated.
On the education level, the relationship shows a non-linear trend. The spirit of initiative increases from the lowest levels of study up to the high school diploma, it decreases among graduates and increases again among those with post-university qualifications. The result is that Italian entrepreneurs do not belong to the circle of master’s doctors, but are more present among graduates and profiles with advanced training.
Income also follows a similar logic. The majority of those who start their own business are in the brackets between 20,000 and 60,000 euros per year, while the higher wealth classes are marginal.
The gender gap
One of the most structural issues of the relationship concerns the distance between men and women in the creation of new productive realities. In 2025 the male activation rate stands at around 13%, while the female activation rate stops at just above 8%.
The discrepancy does not only concern the birth of the business, but tends to widen in the subsequent phase, when we move from the debut to the consolidation of the economic structure.
The report links this difference to three main elements that characterize the female population:
- a lower perception of market opportunities;
- a greater fear of failure;
- an average lower confidence in their management abilities.
Economic motivations: income and strategic choice
The motivations that lead to founding a business also vary based on the initial income. In the lowest range, up to 20,000 euros per year, opportunities and needs tend to balance, with a slight prevalence of the second. It is in the range between 20,000 and 40,000 euros that the absence of work alternatives is most evident.
Starting from 40,000 euros per year, however, the component linked to opportunity progressively prevails. This trend confirms that, as economic stability increases, self-investment tends to be a strategic choice rather than a response to a difficult situation.
