The overall annual impact of film and TV piracy on the Italian economy is estimated at €1.2 million of lost revenue, resulting in an €427 million contraction of GDP and 6,540 lost jobs.

The figures are from research conducted by Ipsos and commissioned by the Italy’s Federation for the Protection of Audiovisual and Multimedia Content (FAPAV).

An estimated 39 per cent of Italians have, at least once in 2016, illegally watched movies, series or TV programmes, with nearly 669 million acts of piracy committed. The Italian digital pirate is typically male, self-employed and educated.

Movies are the most pirated content: by 33 per cent of the adult population, with more than 370 million acts of piracy (over half the estimated total). However, movie piracy has dropped by 4 per cent (from 37 per cent in 2010).

The piracy of TV series and TV programmes has, however, increased sharply: from 11 per cent from 13 per cent respectively in 2010 to 22 per cent and 19 per cent today.

Digital is the main type of piracy (33 per cent of the Italian population) and has grown over the past six years. This is especially true for movie piracy, which has seen a 78 per cent increase since 2010. During the same period, physical and indirect piracy dropped by 81 per cent and 50 per cent, respectively.

BitTorrent sites and Cyberlocker are the main tool for piracy, while IPTV streaming is still a marginal phenomenon.