Territory figures

Population

The province of Bergamo has more than one million residents, making it one of the most demographically dynamic areas in Lombardy. This trend, ongoing since 2022, shows a steady increase in population.

Labour market

The province’s economic strength stems from a rich entrepreneurial tradition and a deeply rooted work ethic. Over the past five years, employment among those aged 15 to 64 in the province of Bergamo has followed a positive trend, with an employment rate consistently above the national average and only slightly below the regional one.

Just one year after the economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, data already indicated a solid rebound.
However, a significant gap remains between male and female employment rates, which continues to hinder the full realisation of the area’s employment potential. In this regard, Bergamo performs better than the Italian average but has yet to close the gap with more advanced areas such as Milan.

The unemployment rate in the province of Bergamo is exceptionally low. The 2024 average was the lowest among all Italian provinces.

Added value and wealth creation

With an added value of over €41 billion in 2024, according to the Centro Studi Tagliacarne, Bergamo ranks eighth among Italy’s wealthiest provinces. In terms of per capita added value, amounting to 37.200 euro, it ranks eighteenth. In both cases, among Lombardy’s provinces, Bergamo is surpassed only by Milan and Brescia.
As in the national context, trade and services are the sectors that contribute the most to added value, generating more than half of the total. These are followed by manufacturing, construction, and agriculture. 

Entrepreneurial culture: a well-established tradition

The Business Register captures the local economic fabric with regard to the number of enterprises, also providing an account of the economic sector in which they operate and of their legal form.

At the end of 2024, business headquarters were just under 91,000, of which about 83,000 are active businesses.
By adding local units, the total number of registrations exceeds 108,000. The most numerous are in services, followed by construction, manufacturing, and agriculture. One peculiarity is the dense presence of small businesses: about one third of the province’s enterprises, a higher value compared to Italy and to Lombardy itself.

Over the past decade, the number of active businesses in the province of Bergamo has gradually declined, with the sole exception of 2022, when national measures to counter the economic and health crisis affected business birth and death rates.

The sole proprietorship is the most common business form, followed — in order of importance — by limited liability companies, partnerships, and other legal forms.

Foreign trade

Bergamo’s economy is open and dynamic, engaging actively with global markets.
Exports account for nearly half of the total added value produced. Over the past decade, Bergamo’s exports have shown steady growth, with the sole exception of 2020, the year affected by the pandemic. 

Bergamo ranks fifth among Italian provinces in terms of the total value of exports recorded in 2024.

Machinery, chemical products, metals, transport equipment, and rubber-plastic goods are the main export commodities. The principal trading partners are Germany, France, the United States, Spain, the United Kingdom, Poland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, China, and Austria.