Italian ceramics industry saw stagnant turnover in 2025

According to a press release dated 10 June 2026 from Confindustria Ceramica, the association of Italian ceramic manufacturers, the Italian ceramics industry achieved a turnover of 7.5 billion euros in 2025, comprising 242 companies and over 25,500 direct employees. Sales of ceramic tiles and slabs totalled 386.9 million square metres (+2.3 percent); turnover stood at 6.0 billion euros (-0.4 percent) and the export share was 82 percent. The sector’s profitability is suffering from rising energy costs and emissions trading schemes (ETS), which is affecting investment, which fell by 16 percent to 321 million euros.

In total, there are 242 companies in Italy, employing 25,550 people directly and generating a turnover of almost 7.5 billion euros. The internationalisation of production in Europe and North America through subsidiaries of Italian ceramics companies generates a turnover in excess of 900 million euros.

Ceramic tiles manufactured in Italy

In Italy, there are 117 companies which produced 390.9 million square metres (+5.7 percent) during 2025 and employ 17,676 people directly. Total sales amounted to 386.9 million square metres (+2.3 percent), with domestic sales in Italy standing at 85.2 million square metres (+0.6 percent), whilst exports totalled 301.7 million square metres (+2.8 percent). The total turnover of Italian tile manufacturers exceeded 6.0 billion euros (-0.4 percent), of which 5 billion euros came from exports (-0.1 percent; accounting for 82 percent of turnover) and 1.0 billion euros from sales in Italy. Investment totalled 321 million euros, representing a decline of 16 percent and accounting for 5.3 percent of turnover.

Sanitaryware

There are 31 industrial companies in Italy that manufacture sanitaryware, 28 of which are based in the industrial area of Civita Castellana (Viterbo). Total employment stands at around 2,700 direct employees, and production amounts to 3.1 million units. Turnover amounts to 415 million euros, with sales in various foreign markets accounting for around 165 million euros (40 percent of total turnover).

The refractory industry

The 29 companies active in the manufacture of refractory materials employ 1,540 staff and achieve a production volume of 270,200 tonnes. Total turnover is down on the previous year (326 million euros; -6 percent) and comprises domestic sales of over 152 million euros and exports of 173 million euros.

The Brick Sector

The Italian brick-manufacturing sector comprises 57 companies with a total of 3,000 employees: in 2025, turnover amounted to 650 million euros, generated mainly on the Italian market. Total production stands at 4.0 million tonnes.

Ceramic tableware

The eight industrial companies employ around 680 staff and record production and sales volumes of 9,600 tonnes. Activities on the domestic market account for 77 percent of total turnover. Turnover in 2025 amounted to 60 million euros (+4 percent), of which 62 percent was generated in Italy.

Statement by the President of Confindustria Ceramica, Augusto Ciarrocchi.

“If we ask a resident of Sassuolo what the ETS benchmarks are, they will probably not know the answer, even though thousands of jobs in this region depend on them. The benchmark is the reference value that determines the costs for the business system. It is based on a mechanism which, if left unchanged, could irreversibly jeopardise the very existence of the Italian ceramics industry. The need for a review and the positions to be put forward to the European Commission have also been coordinated with the Emilia-Romagna region, various local authorities in the district, the sectoral trade unions and Acimac. This is an extraordinary signal from the entire sector, which gives us confidence.

Now an even greater challenge lies ahead. In July, the European Commission will present the comprehensive revision of the ETS Directive, in which the entire system will be re-examined. Together with Confindustria and other business associations subject to the ETS, we have commissioned the University of Bicocca in Milan to carry out a study which, at least for the manufacturing sector, highlights how the ETS risks ceasing to be a tool for decarbonisation and instead becoming a mechanism for the destruction of European industrial value. Production is shifting abroad; global emissions remain the same, but are no longer included in our figures; and industrial communities – such as ours – are paying the highest price.”