Milan remains the performing Milan it has always been, but shows more signs of fragility. On the one hand, it is the city that, even at an international level, has reacted best to the pandemic and its economic consequences. On the other hand, however, young talents flee and multinationals do not invest. Fragility dictated by high costs of living and the need to intervene, as a priority, on housing and salaries.
The picture emerges from the study carried out by Assolombarda and Milano&Partners on the occasion of the fourth edition of “Your Next Milano”. Compared to international benchmarks, the Lombardy capital recorded the highest GDP growth rate since pre-Covid, with +8.7% at the end of 2023 compared to 2019. It is present in 82% of the 33 international rankings examined and is square in twenty-fifth position out of 749 urban centers. The unemployment rate also fell to 4.7% (from 5.4% in 2022). In line with London and New York and comparable to Munich (4.5%) and Chicago (4.2%). The study compared Milan with Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, London, Munich, Paris, Chicago, New York, San Francisco and Tokyo, using three criteria: perception, attractiveness, economic performance. How is Milan located? The main drivers are tourism and sporting events (the Italian city is 13th in the global ranking) and business (27th). The tourism market grew by more than 24% in 2023, with almost 8 million arrivals. Progress is made regarding the innovation system, with a 44th place which is on the rise, but still at the bottom of the ranking. Fragility in the area of mobility and traffic where Milan is placed in 446th position. Real estate is also doing well: over a third of foreign investments are concentrated in Milan.
The Milanese economy, therefore, is performing well and has responded to the post-pandemic situation. But there are critical issues to address which, if postponed for a long time, could stop the race. Attraction first. In 2023, only 49 new foreign multinationals landed in Milan. It means a drop of 32% compared to 2022, the lowest in the last five years. And for the first time in ten years the number of university students has decreased (-1%, but decreasing). On the other hand, foreign ones did well, +9.6%.
The city struggles to retain talent, who flee due to the high cost of living. An alarm bell.
“Losing talent means giving up potential opportunities, skills and contributions that individuals could make to our society and economy, the waste of which – today more than ever – we can no longer tolerate. Milan, therefore, has the responsibility to reverse this trend”, commented Alessandro Spada, president of Assolombarda.
Why don’t young people choose Milan as a place to study and work? Because life is too expensive. It is the same reason that pushes families to leave the Lombard metropolis in recent years. “Housing and salaries are the priorities to work on, in addition to working on welfare measures that can promote work-life balance,” added Spada.
