In Italy there are more than 1,000 foundries, which employ about 30,000 people and have a total turnover of 7 billion euros, producing 2.3 million tons of castings: a figure that places them in second place in Europe after Germany and ninth in the world.

The sector is almost exclusively made up of family-owned SMEs: only 1% of companies have more than 250 employees.
Non-ferrous metal foundries are much more numerous than ferrous metal foundries (859 vs. 185 according to the latest ISTAT figures), but the latter are much bigger: the average turnover is in fact €10.8 million compared to €4.9 million.

The sector is historically highly developed in the northern regions, where about 80% of the foundries are located. Particularly significant is the figure for the province of Brescia, a true Italian foundry district, with almost 200 companies and about 6,000 employees.