The private parking market - Italy

The private parking market includes all paid parking facilities not directly operated by public agencies that are used for short-term or long-term parking of motor vehicles. This category includes both multi-story and underground parking lots and surface parking lots managed by private operators. In Italy, there are more than 400,000 private parking spaces, accounting for a minority portion of the total (about 40 percent of parking lots), while the remaining 60 percent are municipal on-street parking lots. The global market shows steady growth, with a projected increase from $5.67 billion in 2025 to $8.83 billion in 2030. The national context is strongly influenced by the high motorization rate (0.67 cars per inhabitant in 2024) and the shortage of self-storage facilities in urban areas, which generates high demand, exacerbated by inefficient public transport. At the territorial level, demand is concentrated in large urban centers and capital municipalities, although the fourth quarter of 2024 saw an overall decline in transactions (-3.9% compared to 2023), with positive exceptions such as Turin (+17%) and Genoa (+2.8%). The market is highly fragmented: the top four foreign companies (APCOA, Saba, Best in Parking, Interparking) control about 134,000 parking spaces, followed by Italy's Arpinge (7,000 spaces). The leading APCOA manages 91,000 spaces in 150 facilities and had a turnover of more than 75 million euros in 2023. The sector structure has 3,863 companies (2023), with more than 12,700 employees: the dominant legal form is the S.r.l. (46 percent). Construction costs are high: up to €24,000 per parking space is estimated for underground parking. Hourly rates range from 1 to 5 €/h, with peaks in ZTL centers (e.g., Milan, 5 €/h). The offer differs by function: airport, urban, shopping center, hospital, and exhibition parking. Digital innovation is driven by EasyPark, the European leader in digital parking payments, present in more than 390 Italian municipalities and 400 European cities, with transaction growth of +60% between 2022 and 2023. The regulatory framework is governed by urban planning laws and the Tognoli Law, which defines the concession arrangements for the construction of appurtenant and public parking lots.