Moroccans are the leading foreign sole proprietors in Italy

With 53,364 sole proprietorships in their name, Moroccans hold first place among foreign entrepreneurs in Italy. They are ahead of Romanians (52,541) and Chinese nationals (50,166).

These figures were published on 9 October by InfoCamere and Unioncamere, the bodies that analyse Italy’s official business register. The analysis is part of the Futurae project, backed by the Italian Ministry of Labour, and reflects the situation as of 30 June 2026.

This ranking calls for a methodological caveat. The study covers only sole proprietorships, the one category in which the owner’s nationality can be identified directly. It therefore does not measure all companies controlled by foreigners. The podium reflects a specific reality, that of small, local entrepreneurship, and not each community’s overall weight in the Italian economy.

Tight margins between the top three

The Moroccan lead is real, but it remains modest. It amounts to 823 businesses over Romanians and nearly 3,200 over Chinese nationals. In other words, the hierarchy could change from one publication to the next.

Together, these three nationalities account for 32.4% of the country’s foreign sole proprietors. This concentration shows that foreign entrepreneurship in Italy remains heavily structured around a handful of long-established communities.

Here are the key figures of the ranking:

• Morocco: 53,364 sole proprietorships
• Romania: 52,541 sole proprietorships
• China: 50,166 sole proprietorships
• Combined share of the three nationalities: 32.4% of foreign sole proprietors

Three communities, three specialisations

What stands out is that these three communities occupy neither the same economic niches nor the same territories.

Moroccans stand out above all in retail. Their presence is particularly strong in southern Italy, notably in the provinces of Catanzaro, Reggio Calabria and Messina. Romanians favour construction, with a strong presence around Viterbo, Turin and Cremona. Chinese entrepreneurs, for their part, are more present in manufacturing and in recreational services.

The example of Prato, in Tuscany, illustrates this pattern of concentration. In that city, Chinese nationals account for 67.2% of foreign sole proprietors. I note that this geographic specialisation points to structured community networks and supply chains, rather than an even spread across the territory.

More than 677,000 foreign-run businesses in Italy

The Moroccans’ first place comes in a landscape where foreign entrepreneurship plays a growing role. As of 30 June, Italy had 677,188 businesses run by foreign nationals, about 12% of all registered businesses. Nearly four in five are controlled by people from countries outside the European Union.

The trend is positive. In the first six months of 2026, the country recorded 37,140 new foreign-run businesses, against 21,043 closures. The net balance stands at 16,097 additional businesses.

Growth is driven mainly by limited companies, whose number rose by 11% in one year to exceed 160,000. This may point to a move upmarket, since this legal status generally corresponds to larger structures than the sole proprietorship. The latter nonetheless remains the majority form and makes up about 70% of the foreign business fabric.

An uneven geography

Activity is not evenly spread across the territory. The north-west concentrates 32.7% of foreign-run businesses and shows annual growth of 1.5%. In the south, the trend is reversed, with a 3.6% decline, particularly visible in Campania and Calabria.

This contrast raises a question that the figures alone cannot settle. Moroccans are heavily present in the Mezzogiorno, precisely where foreign-run businesses as a whole are shrinking. Their hold on first place could therefore reflect the resilience of their model, built around neighbourhood retail, but the study does not allow us to say so.

A long-standing presence in Italian retail

The presence of Moroccan entrepreneurs is not new. An earlier study published in 2015 already ranked them first among foreigners owning businesses in the country. Statistical scopes have changed since then, so the two publications must be compared with caution. The latest data nonetheless confirm the lasting weight of the Moroccan community in Italian retail.

This stability goes hand in hand with another InfoCamere figure: at the end of 2025, about 35% of foreign-run businesses in Italy had existed for more than ten years. I read in this number the sign of a foreign entrepreneurship that is putting down lasting roots, far from the image of precarious, short-lived ventures.

What this ranking says, and what it does not

Beyond the symbolism, I see two key issues. Economically, foreign entrepreneurship visibly contributes to job creation and to the vitality of local commerce, particularly in areas where activity is weakening. Socially, a community’s entrepreneurial success is an indicator of integration, although it should be handled with nuance.

Above all, we will need to follow the next publications to see whether the Moroccan lead holds, since the gap with Romanians remains slim. It also remains to be seen whether the growth of limited companies will, over time, change the make-up of this ranking.

FAQ

How many sole proprietorships do Moroccans own in Italy?
According to the study by InfoCamere and Unioncamere, 53,364 sole proprietorships belong to Moroccans as of 30 June 2026.

Why does the ranking cover only sole proprietorships?
Because this is the only category in which the owner’s nationality can be identified directly. Companies controlled by foreigners are therefore not all taken into account.

In which sectors are Moroccans most present?
Mainly in retail, with a strong presence in southern Italy, notably in Catanzaro, Reggio Calabria and Messina.

How many foreign-run businesses are there in Italy?
Italy had 677,188 as of 30 June 2026, about 12% of all registered businesses.