Italy: between 2011 and 2024, whilst the number of businesses run by Italian nationals fell by 7.9 per cent, those run by foreign nationals grew by 46.9 per cent

rising from 454,029 to 666,767 people…

Retail remains one of the leading sectors, albeit with a gradual easing of the more rigid ethnic specialisations — the historical channelling of Moroccans, Bangladeshis and Pakistanis into retail, or that of Chinese people into retail, manufacturing and catering — alongside a growing expansion into more specialised services.

Lombardy offers a consistent detailed picture: businesses run by immigrants in the region number over 130,000, having grown by 8.9 per cent between 2021 and 2025, and after Italy, the main countries of birth of Lombardy’s entrepreneurs are Egypt, China, Romania, Albania and Morocco — a geographical distribution which, in urban retail, is directly reflected in the mix of neighbourhood shops changing hands.

“We must view this reality for what it is: not a temporary phenomenon, but a structural component of the Lombardy economy”, notes Eugenio Massetti, president of Confartigianato Lombardia, in an interview with *Corriere della Sera* — an assessment based on the craft sector observatory but which applies just as strongly to local retail, the other sector where foreign entrepreneurial initiative has progressed more rapidly than average…

Below: fruit at a market in Europe. It is worth noting that turnover in the local retail sector in France has almost doubled over the past 10 years.