Siae: Shows still growing, exceeding 4 billion


Culture and entertainment, year after year, are proving to be an increasingly solid asset for the country's economy: if we add together concerts, cinema, theater, exhibitions, sports, and trade fairs, we get a turnover of €4.02 billion, growing 1.94% between 2023 and 2024. This is revealed by the recently released latest edition of the SIAE Report, a veritable bible for industry insiders. The study certifies the excellent health of the sector, which has now left the terrible two-year Covid crisis behind it and continues to churn out significant numbers.
In 2024, 3.37 million performances were held (+6.15% compared to 2023) and 253.5 million spectators (+2.25%). Despite a slight decline in average spending per spectator (€15.83, -0.3%), the overall figure indicates growth driven by increased participation. The average audience per performance decreased (75.2 spectators, -3.7%), a sign of a system that favors smaller, more widespread events at the expense of mass initiatives. A new balance, therefore, between quantity and density of enjoyment.
The offering remains heavily concentrated in the film industry, which accounts for 81% of total performances (2.7 million), but only 29% of audiences and 13% of spending. By contrast, sports, with just 2% of events, attracts 15% of spectators (38.1 million) and generates 21% of spending. But live music drives the entire economic system: concerts represent 2% of events, but attract 29 million spectators (11% of the total) and generate 25% of spending, the largest sector overall.
Specifically, pop-rock concerts attracted 83% of the audience, but genres such as jazz (+18.6%) and classical music, which stands out for its more even seasonal distribution, also grew. Theater remained an important pillar, recording a 4.5% increase in performances and the highest increase in audiences in the overall sector (+7.2% and 28.3 million admissions), while nightclubs and dance halls, with 6% of the offerings, attracted 13% of the audience.
The very lively trend in the cinema, theater, and music segments continued in the first five months of 2025, which, according to SIAE, saw a 0.8% growth in performances, 6.3% in admissions, and 11.3% in audience spending.
What's happening in individual sectors? Concerts recorded 65,515 performances (+6.3% over 2023), 29 million spectators (+2.9%), and an all-time high total spending of €989.3 million (+1.4%). Average spending per spectator dropped slightly (-1.5%), equal to €34.13, a sign of greater accessibility amid general inflation. The most-watched show of the year was AC/DC's performance in Reggio Emilia, with over 102,000 spectators. The same Australian band will return to these parts on July 20, at the Imola racetrack. Cinema, dominated by Inside Out 2 , closed 2024 with 2.7 million performances (+6.4%), 73.5 million spectators, and total spending of €539.5 million (+0.6%), with an average spend per spectator of €7.34 (+1.4%). The average attendance per show stands at 26.8 spectators, with peaks in the winter months: December is the most popular month, with 9.9 million admissions and 35.4 people per screening.
The theater sector closed 2024 with positive, cross-sectional signs. A total of 153,014 performances were held (+4.5% compared to 2023), attracting 28.25 million spectators, the largest percentage increase in the entire Report (+7.2%), for a total expenditure of €578.6 million (+7%). The Italian sports landscape in 2024 remains dynamic and evolving. With 80,303 events organized (+4.9% compared to 2023) and 38.1 million total spectators (+3.7%), the sector demonstrates growing attractiveness. Sporting events, although slightly concentrated, recorded an average attendance of 474 spectators per event.
The 2024 SIAE Report, explains President Salvo Nastasi, also marks an important anniversary: "One hundred years since the first systematic surveys on entertainment in Italy. A century of data that captures the evolution of the national cultural landscape." For Director General Matteo Fedeli, "the 2024 data paints a complex picture of live entertainment in Italy. The increases recorded over the past year (+6% of performances, +2% of spectators, +2% of spending) are positive signs, but still partial. We are in a transitional phase, in which the sector is seeking new balances, redefining languages, formats, and habits." Ptsclas contributed to the Report, whose Vice President Angela Tibaldi emphasizes a work based on "a diachronic reading, the development of comparative indicators over time, territorial contextualization with respect to the population, and comparison with industry trends."
News and insights on political, economic, and financial events.
Sign upilsole24ore