Milan accounted for 11.4% of Italy’s cultural spending in 2025, despite having 2.3% of the country’s resident population, according to figures presented for BookCity Milano. 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 light-music concerts. Including sporting and entertainment events, the total reached €741.9 million, up 1% year on year.
The city recorded 37,900 events during the year, or an average of 104 per day, excluding cinema screenings. Library loans also increased, reaching 987,651. Milan’s trade book market declined by 0.3%, compared with a 2.2% fall nationally. One in every ten books sold in Italy was purchased within the city limits.
Football matches generated the largest share of spending, at €177.5 million, up 1.5% on 2024. Book purchases through physical and online bookstores and supermarkets followed at €155.8 million, down 0.3%. Pop, rock and light-music concerts brought in €140.6 million, a decline of 5.6%.
Other reported figures included €36.9 million for museums, up 5.7%, and €36.4 million for exhibitions, down 16.8%. Spending on spoken theatre rose 5.2% to €32.1 million, while cinema revenue fell 1.9% to €28.7 million. Ballet recorded the strongest increase among the listed categories, rising 25.6% to €14.2 million; classical music concerts were up 24.7% to €13.2 million.
Attendance at cultural, musical and sporting events remained broadly stable at 25.1 million visits, compared with 25.3 million in each of the previous two years. Museums recorded 6.3 million visits, while exhibitions drew 2.8 million.
The figures come from the Italian Publishers Association’s observatory for BookCity Milano, which examined cultural consumption, libraries and museums in the city. The findings were presented on November 4 at the Forum Cultura at Casva, alongside the City of Milan’s Culture Department and BookCity Milano, in collaboration with SIAE and the Milan Library System.
Sources: ANSA Cultura.