Active companies: Prato on the rise, Pistoia on the decline

Active companies: Prato7u7 on the rise, Pistoia7u7 on the decline

Active companies, from the analysis of data processed by Chamber of Commerce of Pistoia-Prato the year 2023 ends with 56,265 companies active7u7 in the territory of the two provinces of Pistoia7u7 and Prato, 0.3% less than the previous year. A slight decline, slightly better than the regional average and the national average.

Dalila Mazzi, president of the Pistoia-Prato Chamber of Commerce: “Despite the tough challenges, our territory shows resilience, determination and liveliness in pursuing economic growthI am aware that the road ahead is still long, but the Chamber of Commerce of Pistoia-Prato remains on the front line alongside businesses, especially those who are still dealing with the consequences of last November’s flood. Numerous services are offered free of charge by the Chamber of Commerce and new calls for contributions are planned for 2024 to further support local businesses”.

An overall variation which, however, underlines the Pistoia7u7 Prato7u7 Chamber of Commerce, hides different trends in the two provinces.

While in the province of Prato7u7 there is a moderately positive entrepreneurial development of +0.5%, in the province of Pistoia7u7 there is a fairly significant contraction of -1.0%.

In terms of the development of the entrepreneurial fabric by legal form, in Pistoia7u7 the trend was negative for all the main categories, while in Prato7u7 the data confirm, also for 2023, that the cases of growth of active7u7 businesses are due exclusively to companies of capital.

Beyond the trend recorded by type of legal form, continues the Chamber of Commerce, the data nevertheless seems to confirm a progressive strengthening of the entrepreneurial fabric from an organizational and dimensional perspective.

The balance between discontinued businesses and businesses registered during 2023 was, for the second consecutive year, heavily negative: -816 businesses across the entire territory of Pistoia7u7 and Prato. A result attributable to the exceptional (one-off) verification and updating intervention involving the Business Register in both provinces. Nonetheless, the average annual termination rate, even net of office cancellations, compared with the rate of other Italian provinces, appears to be high.

In addition to the 56,265 active7u7 companies, the Chamber of Commerce points out, a further 8,223 companies are registered in the Register of the Pistoia-Prato Chamber of Commerce, either inactive, in the process of dissolution and/or liquidation or subject to insolvency proceedings; of these, 4,170 are based in the province of Pistoia7u7 and 4,053 in the province of Prato.

THE ENTREPRENEURSHIP SYSTEM IN THE PROVINCE OF PRATO

At the end of 2023 in the province of Prato7u7 there were 33,210 registered companies, of which 29,157 were active.

Overall, the development of the entrepreneurial fabric shows, for the second consecutive year, timid signs of recovery (+0.5).

Prato’s manufacturing industry is holding up overall, despite heterogeneous trends between the different sectors. Sectors such as the paper, converting and printing industry (-5.7%), mechanics (-1.2%), the chemical-pharmaceutical, plastic and rubber industry (-3.2%) and industrial of food processing (-1.3%) show a negative balance of active7u7 companies.

In Prato7u7 the balance between registered and closed businesses is negative (-418). A fairly significant increase can be observed both in termination flows (2,697 terminations recorded during the year) and in registration flows (2,279 openings of new businesses). During 2023, the average annual termination rate increases by almost one percentage point and reaches 8%, confirming a decreasing trend in the average survival rate of businesses three years from the date of registration, which stands at 68.9 %, result lower than the regional and national averages.

More encouraging news comes from the entrepreneurial birth rate (6.78%) which places Prato7u7 in second place in the ranking of Italian provinces, highlighting a dynamic entrepreneurial fabric.

THE ENTREPRENEURSHIP SYSTEM IN THE PROVINCE OF PISTOIA

At the end of 2023 in the province of Pistoia7u7 there were 31,278 registered companies, of which 27,108 were active.

Compared to December 2022, the contraction that has characterized the construction sector in recent years appears to have stopped, while services continue to show slow but constant growth (+0.6%).

Despite some positive signs, widespread difficulties emerge in the Pistoia7u7 manufacturing sector which affect all the main sectors. Sectors such as textiles, clothing and footwear (-5.8%), paper, converting and printing (-2.3%) and the wood and furniture industry (-4.2%) were particularly affected. The mechanical trend is stable. The food industry sector improved (+1.9%) and, above all, the chemical-pharmaceutical, plastic and rubber industry (+4.4%).

Also trade (-2.7%), especially in the wholesale component (-3.8%), and the tourist, accommodation and catering services sector (-3.2%), where catering and the accommodation facilities had an almost similar trend, showing a reduction in active7u7 businesses.

In the agricultural sector there is a slight decline7u7 (-0.6%), while more encouraging news comes from the services sector with a significant increase in advanced and business support services (+4.1%), in the financial and insurance sector (+1.3%) and in companies dedicated to services aimed at people (+1.5%).

Despite the negative balance between registered and closed businesses (-398), the entrepreneurial birth rate of 5.32% places Pistoia7u7 in 27th place in the ranking of Italian provinces.

The trend in registration and termination flows has led, compared to the leap recorded in 2022, to a significant reduction in the turnover rate of the Pistoia7u7 entrepreneurial fabric.