12/6/2012 00:00:00
According to the Federculture 2012 annual report, in our country in 2011 family spending on culture reached 70,9 billion euros, with an increase of 2,6% compared to 2010, the increase is greater than that recorded for clothing and foods.
In such a difficult period, we read in the volume, between 2008 and 2011, spending on culture recorded an increase of 7,2%. The increase in the decade 2001-2011 is even more evident: recreation and culture recorded a +26,3%.
According to the Report, more people go to the theater (+17,7%), listen to classical music concerts (+11%) and visit monuments and archaeological sites (+6%), although it must be considered that overall the enjoyment theater in the last year has fallen by 2,7% and that of concerts by 2,8%. But the data on state cultural sites lead to optimism: visitors in 2011 were over 40 million (+7,5%), for 110,4 million euros in gross revenue (+5,7%), a trend of almost constant growth over the last 15 years and which has seen admissions to museums and archaeological areas go from 25 million in 1996 to 40 million today (+60,2%). The trend in tourism was also positive, with 5,4% more arrivals of foreign travelers compared to 2010.
The reduction in public funding for culture is increasingly evident: in the last ten years the MIBAC budget has decreased by 36,4%, reaching 2011 million euros in 1.425 compared to 2.120 in 2001. In relation to the total state budget, the allocation for culture represents only 0,19%, while it is just 0,11% of GDP. Research contained in the Report on a sample of 15 Municipalities (including Bologna, Cagliari, Florence, Genoa, Milan, Naples, Padua, Palermo, Rome, Turin) demonstrates how between 2008 and 2011 the cultural spending of municipal administrations, in particularly for the part relating to investments, decreased on average by 35%. The impact of the culture item on municipal budgets, in the administrations considered, drops to 2,6%. Projecting these values onto the total expenditure on culture by the Municipalities (around 2,3 billion euros up to 2009) we can speak of a loss for the sector of around 500 million euros.
Our country, according to the Country Brand Index ranking, is in first place for attractiveness linked to culture. According to the most recent UNCTAD (United Nation Conference on Trade and Development) data, in 2010 the value of Italian exports of creative goods was over 23 billion dollars, an increase of 11,3% compared to 2009. In this sector we still have significant market shares: 17% of European exports and 6% of global exports. Italy maintains a leadership position: we are the 4th country in the world for exports of creative goods, while in particular for design we are the first exporting country among the G8 economies. The cultural and creative industries sector, currently estimated to be worth 4,5% of European GDP and 3,8% of total employment, will be expanding greatly in the coming years. There is, however, an emergency which, according to the Report, must be addressed as soon as possible. Our training system, in fact, seems to be losing its ability to attract young people. From the 2003/2004 to the 2009/2010 academic year, enrollments in the National Academy of Art and the National Academy of Dance decreased by 7,5% and 23% respectively. In the last year, enrollments in Italian universities have collapsed, new students making up 60% of graduates. They were 70% ten years ago. In the international ranking of the best universities in the world, for the academic year 2011/2012, none of our institutes are among the top 100: the University of Bologna appears, first among the Italian ones, in 183rd position; only 210but the “Sapienza” of Rome. We are among the last in Europe for spending on public education: we invest 4,8% of GDP in the sector, compared to 8% in Denmark, 6,9% in England, or 6,2% in France.
