According to data from the Business Scan 2026 Observatory created by Sevendata, an Italian company specialized in business information and credit risk analysis, in Italy there are approximately 674 thousand companies considered at risk of insolvency out of over 5.5 million active companies. In percentage terms, the phenomenon concerns 12.1% of all Italian companies.
This is a figure that represents a snapshot of the ability of companies to meet their financial commitments in the next 12 months, highlighting important territorial differences between the various regions.
Which companies are at risk of bankruptcy
When we talk about companies at risk of insolvency we are not referring exclusively to companies destined for bankruptcy or liquidation, but to those that have a high probability of encountering financial difficulties that could compromise business continuity.
Sevendata’s analysis uses a proprietary model based on artificial intelligence systems and neural networks that takes into consideration numerous indicators, including:
- economic-financial data;
- company balance sheets;
- negative events recorded during the activity;
- characteristics of management;
- structural indicators of the company and information from chamber of commerce registers.
The rating developed evaluates the risk of insolvency with a time horizon of twelve months, therefore offering a forecast of the companies’ ability to maintain economic and financial balance.
The Italian regions with the most companies at risk
The analysis highlights a clear difference between Northern and Southern Italy, with some areas of the country showing significantly higher risk levels than the national average. Among the regions that record the highest incidence of companies at risk of insolvency are:
- Lazio;
- Calabria;
- Campania;
- Sicily;
- Abruzzo.
Lazio represents the most critical data in the entire country, with almost one in six companies classified as potentially exposed to financial difficulties in the short term.
Several regions of Southern Italy also continue to present levels of vulnerability higher than the Italian average, confirming how the entrepreneurial fabric is even more exposed to the effects of economic uncertainty, lower availability of capital and more complex market conditions.
The most solid regions
At the other end of the list is Friuli Venezia Giulia, which continues to stand out as one of the most solid Italian regions from the point of view of business stability. According to the study, there are 8,138 regional companies considered at risk of insolvency, equal to 8.7% of active companies.
Although recording a slight increase compared to 2025, when the incidence was 0.6 percentage points lower, the figure remains significantly better than the national average of 12.1%.
Friuli Venezia Giulia thus enters the group of the most economically resilient regions together with:
- Trentino-Alto Adige;
- Aosta Valley;
- Piedmont;
- Veneto.
These territories show a greater capacity of the entrepreneurial system to face economic difficulties, thanks to a diversified production structure, good financial solidity of companies and a historically more stable economic fabric.
The economic sectors with the greatest risk of insolvency
The study highlights how the risk is not distributed uniformly between the different economic sectors. The highest percentages of businesses at risk concern:
- energy suppliers (27.3%);
- mining and quarrying activities (20.7%);
- water and waste management (16%);
- real estate sector (13.9%).
These are sectors that are particularly exposed to increases in operating costs, market volatility and the investments necessary to sustain the business.
The most resilient sectors
On the contrary, the sectors that show the greatest solidity are:
- services (2.6%);
- agriculture and fishing (3.2%);
- financial and insurance activities (3.8%).
These data demonstrate how corporate resilience depends not only on the geographical position, but also on the economic sector in which each company operates.
