Software, dati, marchi: 10mila miliardi su asset intangibili. Italia indietro

In 2025, intangible investments surpassed the $10 trillion mark for the first time, growing at a rate more than triple that of tangible investments. The United States alone accounts for nearly half of the total, while Italy lags behind in this crucial phase for the development of global economies. This is according to the third edition of the World Intangible Investment Highlights report, produced by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and Luiss Business School.

The report examines 29 high- and medium-income economies, representing about 57% of global GDP. Investments in software, data, research and development, as well as trademarks, organizational capital, and other intellectual property-based assets continued to rise last year, while spending on machinery and buildings slowed due to tighter financing conditions and economic uncertainty.

Between 2020 and 2025, intangible investments grew an average of 5.5% per year, compared to 3.2% for tangible investments, such as machinery, semiconductors, and components. These investments now represent nearly 13% of GDP on average in the analyzed economies, confirming a lasting structural shift in the composition of investments.

Cecilia Jona-Lasinio, Full Professor of Applied Economics at Luiss Business School and coordinator of the project, notes that this represents a "reallocation of capital allocation." One of the most interesting aspects revealed by the report is that "investments in immaterial assets, essentially investments in knowledge, are increasingly considered relevant for competing in global markets."

Italy remains at the bottom of the list of countries analyzed, significantly lagging behind not only the United States but also major European competitors. In the countries at the top of the list, the share of spending on intangible assets in GDP was 16-17% in 2025, while in Italy it is only 9%. Comparing intangible investments with investments in physical capital, the report distinguishes some countries that are more advanced in the transition to a knowledge-based economy.

Italy remains behind, with a highly predominant share of investments in tangible goods. This is not necessarily a mistake: it is the result of past industrial policy choices tied to Italy's manufacturing tradition. However, perhaps it is time to try to change. To ensure that physical investments also create value, it is necessary to invest in intangible assets, because these are essentially "innovative investments, strongly complementary to digital transformation.

It takes little to have a lot of hardware if we have little software," the professor adds. The report also highlights how artificial intelligence is accelerating investments through two distinct waves. The first concerns tangible investments, driven by the development of the infrastructure necessary for advanced AI models, such as data centers, semiconductors, energy systems, and networks.

This phase turned out to be more intense than anticipated and is helping to revitalize tangible investments, while remaining strongly concentrated geographically, particularly in the United States. The second consists of a larger wave of intangible investments, including data, software, research and development, trademarks, organizational capital, and training.

As the report shows, like previous general-purpose technologies, the long-term economic impact of AI will come less from physical infrastructure and more from the immaterial assets developed on such infrastructure. The United States occupies a central position in both dynamics. Two takeaways for businesses: to compete means investing in complementary immaterial assets - data, trademarks, organization, training - without which technology does not generate value.

For policymakers, the priority is to measure what is not yet seen: around 62% of immaterial investments slip through official statistics. Without adequate data, we will continue to underestimate where growth originates and design policies that ignore the wrong capital.