Bioeconomy and sustainable agriculture: how Italy is leading Europe's green transition

In 2025, Italy's bioeconomy is worth €433.3 billion, with the agri-food chain accounting for 64.5% of that figure. The 12th Report on the Bioeconomy in Europe — produced by Intesa Sanpaolo with the contribution of Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center — reveals a growing sector that is strategic for Italy's and Europe's resilience and competitiveness

Why the bioeconomy is strategic for Italy and Europe

In an international context marked by growing geopolitical tensions — from the ongoing conflict in Ukraine to the new scenario in the Middle East — the bioeconomy is confirmed as one of Europe's most relevant strategic assets. Not only for its ability to reduce climate-altering emissions, but also to ensure strategic autonomy, supply security and resilience of production chains in the face of increasingly frequent and intense shocks.

It is in this context that the 12th Report on the Bioeconomy in Europe takes shape, produced by the Research Department of Intesa Sanpaolo in collaboration with the SPRING Cluster, SRM and Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center — which contributed the chapter on innovative startups and bio-based materials for construction — and the University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli. The data updated to 2025 confirms the centrality of the bioeconomy in the Italian and European production system, with the agri-food chain as the main engine.

What is Bioeconomy?

The bioeconomy is the socio-economic system that encompasses and interconnects economic activities that sustainably use renewable natural resources from land and sea — including waste and by-products — to produce goods, services and energy. It is a sector closely tied to local territories, capable of creating multidisciplinary integrated supply chains and returning value to communities, making the bioeconomy one of the pillars of the European Green Deal and many projects included in the PNRR.

In this context, the circular economy plays an increasingly strategic role — especially in a geopolitical context marked by tensions and conflicts — as it helps reduce dependence on fossil fuels and foreign supply chains, strengthening the autonomy of production systems. The bioeconomy cuts across sectors such as agriculture, forestry, energy, aquaculture and fishing, chemical and pharmaceutical industry, textiles, cosmetics, paper, food and industrial biotechnology.

Circular bioeconomy: the link between innovation and sustainability

The bioeconomy and the paradigm of the circular economy complement each other, giving rise to the circular bioeconomy. The circular economy aims to extend the lifecycle of products and reduce waste generation: when a product can no longer fulfil its function, the materials it contains are reintroduced into the economic cycle as secondary raw materials.

The circular bioeconomy takes this model a step further: materials of biological origin — by nature renewable and often biodegradable — are valorised throughout the entire value chain, from production to recovery, while reducing dependence on fossil fuels and non-renewable resources. Research, development and innovation are the foundations of this model, making strategic the collaboration between companies, innovative startups, universities, research centres, institutions and the financial world.

How much is the Bioeconomy worth in Europe in 2025?

According to the 12th Report on the Bioeconomy in Europe, in 2025 the estimated value of the EU27 bioeconomy reached €3,174 billion, with over 17 million employees — equal to 7.8% of total employment in the European Union. A result that confirms the bioeconomy as one of the most solid pillars of the European economy, capable of withstanding geopolitical turbulence thanks to its territorial roots and supply chain diversification.

The main European economies contribute significantly: Germany leads with €553.7 billion, followed by France with €444.2 billion, Italy with €433.3 billion and Spain with €331.3 billion. Together, these four countries generate around €1,760 billion in output and employ approximately 7.9 million people.

In relative terms, however, an important figure stands out: Spain (10.7%) and Italy (9.9%) are the countries where the bioeconomy's share of the national economy is highest, both above the EU27 average (8.8%). France and Germany stand at 8.1% and 6.6% respectively.

How much is the Bioeconomy worth in Italy in 2025?

In Italy, in 2025 the bioeconomy generated €433.3 billion in production, growing by +2.7% compared to 2024, accounting for around 10% of the national economy and employing over 2 million people, equal to 7.6% of the total. The sector's value added rose to approximately €140 billion, up by around €7 billion compared to 2024 and significantly above the 2023 level of €125 billion.

The growth in nominal production value is the result of a stable domestic market combined with an increase in export revenues: the latter benefited from renewed dynamism in the second half of 2025, despite elevated geopolitical uncertainty. Global trade was supported by the anticipation effect, as many US operators brought forward purchases to cushion the impact of tariff increases.

The Bioeconomy across Italian regions: an engine for local territories

The bioeconomy is not uniform across Italy: it develops from local resources, skills and production specialisations. The North-East regions lead in absolute value added with approximately €37.1 billion, followed by the North-West (€34.5 billion), the South (€31.0 billion) and the Centre (€22.4 billion).

In relative terms, however, a different geography emerges: the South stands out for the employment weight of the bioeconomy, with over 740,000 employees representing 10.4% of total employment in the area. Basilicata and Molise have the highest incidences of bioeconomic value added on total regional output (10% and 9.6%), followed by Trentino-Alto Adige, Umbria, Marche, Veneto and Emilia-Romagna.

The agri-food chain is central everywhere: in the South, agriculture and food industry together account for almost 80% of bioeconomic value added (53% agriculture, 26% food). In the North-East the share exceeds 60%, with a more balanced split between the agricultural component and food processing. In the Centre, the contribution of bio-based fashion, paper and bio-based pharmaceuticals enriches a more diversified production profile.

Bioeconomy and the agri-food chain: the engine of Italian growth

The Italian agri-food chain is the main engine of the national bioeconomy. In 2025 it closed with a production value increase of +3.8%, driven by multiple components: the wine supply chain — which in the 2025/2026 campaign once again gave Italy the world's top ranking by volume produced — the positive harvest for processing tomatoes and summer fruit, and the growth in volumes in olive oil, despite average prices falling after the peaks of previous years.

The food, beverages and tobacco industry — which alone generates around €199 billion — confirmed the positive trend already seen in 2024, thanks to good performance on the domestic market, supported by the recovery in household consumption, and excellent results in export markets. Italian agri-food exports grew by +5.2% in 2025, capturing opportunities in traditional markets such as Germany (+5.6%), France (+6.1%), Spain (+13%), as well as in emerging economies such as Poland (+17.7%) and Romania (+10.2%), offsetting lower flows to the United States (-4.5%).

In terms of employment, the agri-food chain counts approximately 1.5 million employees in 2025 (951,000 in agriculture, over 500,000 in the food industry), equal to 70.7% of total employment in Italy's bioeconomy.

Bioeconomy and sustainable agriculture: real-world examples from Italy

The bioeconomy plays a fundamental role for sustainable agriculture: the sector, traditionally among the most impactful in terms of emissions and resource consumption, is undergoing a profound transformation towards more efficient and environmentally respectful production models. Italy offers many exemplary cases of this evolution.

In Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna, anaerobic digesters transform agricultural waste and livestock effluents into biogas and organic fertilisers, delivering a dual environmental and economic benefit. In Campania, tomato peels are valorised for the extraction of natural pigments and the production of bioplastics. In Tuscany and Piedmont, hemp is cultivated to produce ecological building materials with a low carbon footprint. In Puglia, linen fibres produce sustainable textiles, while in Veneto plant-based biopesticides reduce dependence on synthetic chemicals. In Sicily, citrus residues are transformed into paper and sustainable packaging.

To these are added the innovative supply chains linked to algae- and micro-organism-based biofertilisers — which improve soil health without depleting it — and the production of agricultural biomass for bioenergy generation, in a logic of integrated use of territorial resources.

Regenerative agriculture: beyond sustainability

While sustainable agriculture aims to reduce the environmental impact of production processes, regenerative agriculture goes further: it actively works to restore and improve ecosystem health, increasing biodiversity, sequestering carbon in the soil and improving the water-holding capacity of land. It is one of the most advanced frontiers of the circular bioeconomy.

The link between regenerative agriculture and the bioeconomy is direct: both share the goal of maximising the value of biological resources throughout the entire production chain, reducing waste and valorising by-products. The Italian agri-food supply chain, with its vocation for quality and terroir, is fertile ground for the adoption of these practices, which find concrete application in viticulture, olive growing, horticulture and animal husbandry.

The topic is also central to European policy: the new European Bioeconomy Strategy, published by the Commission in November 2025, explicitly includes regenerative agriculture among the priority sectors for the development of competitive and sustainable bio-based markets.

The impact of the Middle East conflict on the agri-food chain

The 12th Report includes a specific focus on the impact of the Middle East conflict on the bioeconomy sectors. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz — through which one fifth of the world's liquid petroleum trade passes — has direct and indirect consequences for the Italian agri-food chain.

The most significant impact concerns the dependence on fossil-based raw materials still present in the bioeconomy's production cycles. In particular, the Gulf area supplies essential chemical compounds such as urea, phosphates and ammonia — used in the production of fertilisers — with potential direct repercussions on downstream agricultural production. Rising energy costs are also passed on throughout the supply chain, with more marked effects in the chemical and rubber-plastics sectors.

This scenario underscores even more the strategic importance of the bioeconomy: an economic model capable of replacing fossil raw materials with renewable biological resources represents a concrete response not only to emission reduction, but also to strategic autonomy and supply security.

Innovation, startups and open innovation in Italy's bioeconomy

The innovative vitality of Italy's bioeconomy is evidenced by 707 innovative startups counted as of 31 December 2025, equal to 6.2% of total companies registered in the dedicated Register — a vibrant ecosystem spread across the national territory, with a greater concentration in Lombardy, Campania, Emilia-Romagna, Lazio, Sicily and Veneto.

More than half of startups are concentrated in Research & Development and technical-scientific activities, confirming the strongly cross-cutting and technological nature of the meta-sector. Among the emerging innovation trends: nutraceuticals and functional food, aquaculture and algae as alternative protein sources, bio-based packaging, biomaterials from agricultural waste, natural cosmetics, organic fertilisers. In R&D, the weight of biotechnology is growing and artificial intelligence is establishing itself as an enabling factor for supply chain optimisation.

The European regulatory framework supporting the bioeconomy

On the European policy front, 2025 marked an important acceleration. In November 2025 the European Commission published the new Bioeconomy Strategy — 'A Strategic Framework for a Competitive and Sustainable EU Bioeconomy' — with a vision to 2040 structured around four pillars: accelerating innovation and investment, creating lead markets for bio-based materials and technologies, ensuring sustainable biomass supplies and leveraging global partnerships.

These are complemented by the Circular Economy Act — aimed at overcoming regulatory fragmentation and valorising secondary raw materials — and the Biotech Act II, expected by end of 2026, which will need to include specific measures for bio-based products. On the packaging front, the PPWR Regulation introduces compostability requirements for certain packaging categories from 2028.

Italy confirms itself as a success story in this area: with the National Bioeconomy Strategy and Implementation Plan 2025-2027, and with advanced regulation on bio-based, biodegradable and compostable plastics, Italy is among the most forward-thinking countries in Europe in translating bioeconomy objectives into concrete tools.