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The eco-industry indicator measures the economic and employment contribution of production sectors engaged in environmental protection and the sustainable management of natural resources. In recent years, the eco-industry sector has experienced strong growth, highlighting the dynamism of the green economy in Italy. Between 2016 and 2022, employment in the sector increased by 99.5%, while value added grew by 120.9%, with particularly marked expansion in the last two years. In 2022, the value added of environmental activities rose by 40.6%, a pace significantly higher than that of overall GDP (+8.4%). As a result, the share of eco-industries in the national economy increased from 3.1% of GDP in 2021 to 4% in 2022, confirming the growing role of sustainability-oriented production in the country.

In 2024, Domestic Material Consumption in Italy stood at 486 million tonnes (-0.7% compared to 2023), while Resource Productivity grew to 3.76 euro/kg (+1.4%), confirming an improvement in the efficiency of the use of natural resources.

In 2021, in Italy, consumption and investments caused 439.5 Mt of CO2 (carbon footprint), equivalent to about 1.2% of global CO2 emissions, marking a 15% increase compared to the previous year. Of these, about 52 Mt come from the EU (excluding Italy) through imports, and 126 Mt from the rest of the world. Household activities, primarily from transport and heating, which are solely of Italian origin, account for about a quarter of the carbon footprint. The category of final demand that accounts for the largest share of the carbon footprint is final consumption expenditure (28%). About 12% of Italy's carbon footprint originates from the EU (excluding Italy), 7% from China, 4% from Russia, and 17% from the rest of the world.

An economic system operates through energy inputs. The total energy consumption of resident units indicates the amount of energy used by economic activities and households for production and consumption activities, distinguishing energy uses from non-energy uses.

In 2021, the total energy consumption in Italy amounted to 7.05 exajoules, a 17.1% reduction compared to 2008. The total consumption is almost entirely for energy uses. In 2021, over two-thirds of the total energy use is attributable to productive activities. Among these, the top six activities for energy use (slightly more than half of total use) contribute to nearly 7% of Italy's Gross Domestic Product. 31% of the total energy use is due to household consumption (mainly heating/cooling and transport).

ISPRA also estimates the internal energy footprint, which allows the analysis of energy uses from the perspective of final domestic demand, highlighting the direct and indirect energy amounts embedded in the goods and services offered on the domestic market by Italian production chains.