Youth-led businesses in Friuli Venezia Giulia: still few but growing

A slightly improving picture for youth-led businesses in Friuli Venezia Giulia , which are showing better performance than the decline recorded nationwide in the first quarter of 2025, compared to the same period of the previous year, and are now climbing to about the middle of the regional rankings, where until a few years ago, Friuli Venezia Giulia was consistently in last or second-to-last place. The data, compiled by the Research Center of the Pordenone-Udine Chamber of Commerce , provides a detailed analysis of the phenomenon in the region, with comparisons with the rest of Italy.

Youth-led businesses in Friuli Venezia Giulia (FVG): bucking the national trend. As of March 31, 2025, there were 6,751 youth-led businesses in Friuli Venezia Giulia, representing 7% of the total 96,752 regional businesses. This figure is below the national average of 7.5%. However, unlike the national trend, where youth-led businesses, net of official cancellations, decreased by 2.8% compared to 2024, in Friuli Venezia Giulia there was a slight increase of 0.3%.

Da Pozzo comments. "Historically," comments the president of the Friuli Chamber of Commerce, "our region ranks below the Italian average for the percentage of businesses under 35. On the one hand, this is partly due to the fact that the youth unemployment rate is lower, pushing many to opt for paid employment, and that we also have a lower percentage of NEETs, 10.6% compared to 15.2% at the national level. On the other hand, it pushes us to do more to spread entrepreneurial culture among young people. The Chamber of Commerce is continuously committed to this: we meet with students, offer in-depth courses, and implement operational initiatives such as those with Junior Achievement and the meetings organized by our Youth Entrepreneurship Committee. We have also intensified our digital presence, with podcasts and videos on Spotify and YouTube, actively shared with schools, and working in synergy with business sectors. It's crucial, especially in increasingly relevant programs like ITS, to focus on managerial training and encouraging young people to believe that their ideas can be transformed into entrepreneurial ventures. As a system, we have a duty to create the ideal conditions to support startups and youth-led businesses, providing them with the tools and confidence they need to succeed.

Provincial data. The percentage of businesses under 35 is higher than the regional average in Trieste (8.4%) and Gorizia (7.4%), while it is lower in Udine (6.4%). The figure for Pordenone is in line with the regional average of 7%. Most youth-run businesses are concentrated in the province of Udine, which hosts 44.1% of the 6,751 companies.

Legal form and composition. Youth-led businesses tend to be more often sole proprietorships, representing 79.3% of all youth-led businesses, a figure significantly higher than the 51.2% recorded for non-youth-led businesses. Furthermore, more than one in four businesses led by people under 35 is foreign (28.5%) or female (26.9%), higher percentages than for non-youth-led businesses.

Sectors driving growth. In 2024, 1,653 new youth-led businesses were opened in Friuli Venezia Giulia. The sectors with the highest number of new registrations were construction with 298 new businesses, wholesale and retail trade with 241, and the primary sector with 127. Construction alone accounted for 18% of total new registrations, nearly one in five businesses. Looking at the share of youth-led businesses in the total number of businesses in a specific sector, the highest figures are found in service activities (12.6%), financial and insurance activities (10.7%), and rental, travel agencies, and business support services (9%).

"It's worth noting a renewed sense of vibrancy among our young entrepreneurs," Da Pozzo concludes. "Looking at the data, we see how the new generations are finding opportunities in key sectors for the regional economy, increasingly tied to service activities and innovation."

The full study on youth enterprises, which provides an annual update, is published and available on the Chamber of Commerce website www.pnud.camcom.it .