Italy sent €7.2 billion worth of food and drink exports abroad in 2023, yet shoppers are tightening their baskets as prices rise. Private label buying jumps to 53 percent, while only 45 percent of food manufacturers use e-invoicing and cloud adoption reaches 51 percent. The result is a fascinating split between global demand and day to day operational choices inside the Italian food industry.
Key Takeaways
- Italy generated about €7.2 billion in food and drink exports in 2023 (World Trade Organization classification varies by source, but WTO reports this scale for Italy’s food sector)
- 53% of Italian consumers report buying private label products when prices rise (trade/channel consumer behavior statistic)
- 1.7 million tonnes of tomato production in Italy in 2023 (raw material output for canned/processed foods)
- 2.0% year-on-year growth in Italy’s beverage manufacturing production index in 2023 (index growth rate).
- 3.7% of Italy’s agricultural area was certified organic in 2023 (organic farmland share).
- €1.6 billion Italy’s mozzarella and cheeses exports in 2023 (export value).
- €2.8 billion Italy’s pasta exports in 2023 (export value, HS category).
- €1.3 billion Italy’s olive oil exports in 2023 (export value, HS 1509 group).
- 45.0% of Italian enterprises in the food manufacturing sector use e-invoicing (share from Eurostat’s e-invoicing statistics).
- 51% of Italian enterprises report using cloud services (share; enterprise ICT adoption).
- 13.7% of Italian food-processing enterprises use big data analytics (share from EU survey statistics for advanced data analytics).
- €26.1 billion Italy’s food manufacturing production value in 2022 (output/production value).
- 1.8 million tonnes Italy’s fishery and aquaculture production in 2023 (capture + aquaculture volume).
- 41% of Italian consumers purchased organic products in the last 12 months (share from consumer survey).
- 18% of Italian consumers report reducing portion sizes due to food inflation (share from survey).
Italian food exports hit €7.2 billion in 2023 as companies modernize with e invoicing and cloud.
Related reading
01 · Category
Market Size1 stats
01
Italy generated about €7.2 billion in food and drink exports in 2023 (World Trade Organization classification varies by source, but WTO reports this scale for Italy’s food sector)
Interpretation
Market Size Interpretation
In the Market Size category, Italy’s food and drink exports reached about €7.2 billion in 2023, underscoring how large the country’s international market footprint is within its food sector.
02 · Category
Consumer Demand1 stats
01
53% of Italian consumers report buying private label products when prices rise (trade/channel consumer behavior statistic)
Interpretation
Consumer Demand Interpretation
In the Italian food consumer demand landscape, 53% of consumers say they switch to private label when prices rise, signaling clear price sensitivity that directly shapes purchasing choices.
03 · Category
Industry Trends3 stats
01
1.7 million tonnes of tomato production in Italy in 2023 (raw material output for canned/processed foods)
02
2.0% year-on-year growth in Italy’s beverage manufacturing production index in 2023 (index growth rate).
03
3.7% of Italy’s agricultural area was certified organic in 2023 (organic farmland share).
Interpretation
Industry Trends Interpretation
The Italian food industry is seeing clear momentum through agriculture and processing, with 1.7 million tonnes of tomatoes feeding canned and processed products in 2023 while beverage manufacturing output grew 2.0% year on year and 3.7% of agricultural land is now certified organic.
04 · Category
Trade Performance9 stats
01
€1.6 billion Italy’s mozzarella and cheeses exports in 2023 (export value).
02
€2.8 billion Italy’s pasta exports in 2023 (export value, HS category).
03
€1.3 billion Italy’s olive oil exports in 2023 (export value, HS 1509 group).
04
€1.5 billion Italy’s ready meals exports in 2023 (export value).
05
€0.9 billion Italy’s chocolate and cocoa preparations exports in 2023 (export value).
06
€3.5 billion Italy’s fruit and nuts exports in 2023 (export value).
07
€5.4 billion Italy’s soft wheat imports in 2023 (import value, HS 1001 group).
08
€1.9 billion Italy’s coffee imports in 2023 (import value, HS 0901 group).
09
€2.4 billion Italy’s sugar imports in 2023 (import value, HS 1701 group).
Interpretation
Trade Performance Interpretation
In Trade Performance terms, Italy’s 2023 food trade is strongly export-led, with major outflows like €5.4 billion in fruit and nuts exports and €2.8 billion in pasta exports standing out against comparatively smaller imports such as €1.9 billion of coffee and €2.4 billion of sugar.
More related reading
05 · Category
Technology And Adoption6 stats
01
45.0% of Italian enterprises in the food manufacturing sector use e-invoicing (share from Eurostat’s e-invoicing statistics).
02
51% of Italian enterprises report using cloud services (share; enterprise ICT adoption).
03
13.7% of Italian food-processing enterprises use big data analytics (share from EU survey statistics for advanced data analytics).
04
€45.0 million Italy’s market for food safety testing services (reported market revenue).
05
7.4% of Italian food and beverage companies adopted ERP systems in 2023 (share from enterprise software adoption survey).
06
3.2% of Italian food manufacturing enterprises report using robots in production (share from Eurostat robotics/automation adoption dataset).
Interpretation
Technology And Adoption Interpretation
Italian food manufacturers are steadily embracing digital tools, with 51% using cloud services and 45.0% already on e invoicing, yet advanced technologies lag behind as only 13.7% use big data analytics and just 3.2% have adopted production robots, showing a clear stepwise pace of technology and adoption.
06 · Category
Economic Contribution1 stats
01
€26.1 billion Italy’s food manufacturing production value in 2022 (output/production value).
Interpretation
Economic Contribution Interpretation
Italy’s food manufacturing produced €26.1 billion in output value in 2022, underscoring a substantial economic contribution from the sector to the national economy.
07 · Category
Production Scale1 stats
01
1.8 million tonnes Italy’s fishery and aquaculture production in 2023 (capture + aquaculture volume).
Interpretation
Production Scale Interpretation
In the Production Scale view, Italy produced 1.8 million tonnes of fishery and aquaculture in 2023, underscoring the country’s large and ongoing capacity to supply seafood through both capture and aquaculture.
08 · Category
Consumption And Demand2 stats
01
41% of Italian consumers purchased organic products in the last 12 months (share from consumer survey).
02
18% of Italian consumers report reducing portion sizes due to food inflation (share from survey).
Interpretation
Consumption And Demand Interpretation
In Italy’s consumption and demand landscape, 41% of consumers bought organic products in the past year while 18% say they are shrinking portion sizes because of inflation, showing a split where buyers still seek premium choices even as budgets tighten.
Reference
Cite This Report
This report is designed to be cited. We maintain stable URLs and versioned verification dates. Copy the format appropriate for your publication below.
APA
Felix Zimmermann. (2026, February 13). Italian Food Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/italian-food-industry-statistics
MLA
Felix Zimmermann. "Italian Food Industry Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/italian-food-industry-statistics.
Chicago
Felix Zimmermann. 2026. "Italian Food Industry Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/italian-food-industry-statistics.
Sources & references
24 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level
+15 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)