Milan accounted for 11.4% of Italy’s cultural consumer spending in 2025, despite having 2.3% of the country’s population. Cultural spending in the city totalled €489.9 million, down 1.5% from the previous year, mainly because of lower revenue from pop, rock and popular music concerts. Including sports and entertainment events, the total reached €741.9 million, up 1% year on year.
The city hosted a record 37,900 events during 2025—an average of 104 a day, excluding film screenings. Library loans also rose, reaching 987,651 over the year. Milan’s trade book market fell by 0.3%, compared with a 2.2% decline nationally. One in every ten books sold in Italy was purchased within the city limits.
The figures come from a study by the Italian Publishers Association (AIE) for BookCity Milano, presented on November 4. The research was produced with the City of Milan’s Department of Culture and BookCity Milano, in collaboration with SIAE and the Milan Library System.
Football matches generated the largest share of spending in the city, at €177.5 million, an increase of 1.5% from 2024. Book purchases through physical and online bookshops and supermarkets followed at €155.8 million, down 0.3%. Pop, rock and popular music concerts brought in €140.6 million, a decline of 5.6%.
Spending rose at museums, reaching €36.9 million, up 5.7%, and at prose theatre, which generated €32.1 million, up 5.2%. Ballet spending increased 25.6% to €14.2 million, while classical music concerts rose 24.7% to €13.2 million. By contrast, expenditure on exhibitions fell 16.8% to €36.4 million; cinema spending was €28.7 million, down 1.9%, and opera theatre spending was €28.5 million, down 0.1%.
Attendance at cultural, music and sporting events and activities remained broadly stable at 25.1 million, compared with 25.3 million in each of the previous two years. Museums recorded 6.3 million visits, while exhibitions received 2.8 million.
Sources: ANSA Cultura.