7 out of 10 Italians do not visit museums: but how do Istat statistics work, and how will they change from 2018?

It is well known that, according to statistics provided byIstat (theNational Institute of Statistics) and related to the year 2016 (i.e., the latest for which surveys are available) as many as 7 out of 10 Italians have never visited a museum. Going into detail, Italian museums, in 2016, saw 45,521,194 visitors cross their entrances (including Italians and foreigners), and such an influx of the public guaranteed the institutions revenues of 174,988,721 euros. But how many, on the contrary, are the Italians who never set foot in them in 2016? As many as 69.2 percent, and the percentage rises to 75 percent in the case of exhibitions or temporary displays, and 80.2 percent in the case of archaeological sites. Better fared are historical monuments (such as churches, abbeys, castles, visits and gardens), where the percentage of Italians who have not made visits in the last year stands at 59.2%, and historical centers (in this case the percentage drops to 56.2%). The peaks of “disinterest” are reached in the south and the islands, where percentages are in all regions above 70 percent (except Sardinia, in line with the national average: 69.4 percent), with the peak of 83.3 percent in Calabria. The region where, on the contrary, inhabitants visit museums more often is Trentino-Alto Adige: the percentage drops to 59.3 percent (and reaches 51.8 percent in the province of Trento alone).

Wanting to proceed further in the statistics, there is substantial parity between males and females: 69.8% of males have not visited a museum in the last year, while females stop at 68.7%. As for age groups, the most likely to visit museums are young people and teens: in fact, the percentage drops to 48.8 percent in the 11-14 age group, while those over 75 are the least likely to visit our cultural institutions (only 12 out of 100 visited a museum in 2016). There are also many differences with regard tooccupation: the most “passionate” about art are executives, entrepreneurs, and freelancers (50.6 percent have visited at least one museum), while the least likely to visit are housewives (with 82.5 percent having not visited a museum). On the other hand, as far as educational qualification is concerned, it is college graduates who visit museums the most (39.8 percent of college graduates have not visited a museum in the last year, while this rises to 90.9 percent for those with an elementary school license). The main reason why Italians do not visit museums is disinterest: 41.8% said museums were not of interest to them, followed by 23.5% who prefer other ways to spend their time, 14.5% who justify themselves by saying there are no museums in their city, 9.4% who consider them too expensive, 5% who think they are boring, and finally 3.2% who say they do not know of any museums. The complete statistics can all be found on the Istat website, www.istat.it.

Many often wonder how these surveys are accomplished. The so-called “cultural statistics,” i.e., those whose main results have just been summarized, are based on data from a sample survey: surveys were conducted on the members of a sample of about 24,000 households, extracted from municipal registers and distributed in about 850 Italian municipalities of different demographic size. This method was first implemented in 1995, and subsequent surveys have been conducted on a periodic multi-year basis. The sample collected is a significant sample, that is, faithfully representative of the entire Italian population, and the data are then projected on a large scale through statistical calculations to give an accurate representation of the entire national landscape.

Moreover, the sample survey method (also called "sampling"), starting this year, will also affect the Population Census, the one that until now was carried out every ten years and involved the entire Italian population (the last one was in 2011) according to a statistical method called "exhaustive" (i.e., aimed at involving all the subjects that the statistics are intended to describe). This is a change that will provide useful information for our country’s institutions, as well as for economic and social policies, since the data from the surveys will make it possible to assess the evolution of our country in a timely manner. In fact, the new population census (which will be called the “Permanent Census”) will produce data on an annual basis so that the needs of individuals and households can be more effectively understood and acted upon. The Permanent Census will affect a sample of about 1.4 million households each year, totaling 3.5 million residents in 2,852 Italian municipalities (1,143 of which will be those participating in census operations each year: the remainder will participate once every four years, so that by 2021 all municipalities will participate at least once in the surveys).

The Permanent Census will ask participants questions about gender, age, place of birth, citizenship, education, educational qualification, occupational status, type of work performed, mobility, and will link the data collected with household data (the number of household members, their characteristics, those of the dwelling in which they live) and with those related to the territory (such as place of residence). The advantages of the new national census survey system are that it will reduce costs by about 50 percent compared with the 2011 census, also significantly containing the statistical disturbance on households. In addition, it will be possible to improve population registers and strengthen the organizational statistical apparatus of municipalities. And of course, demographic and social changes in Italian municipalities will be able to be recorded on an annual basis, so that data will be more timely and more useful for learning about the area.

For the surveys, Istat will use a permanent network of surveyors, a new professional figure with a stable training course that goes to improve the quality of the final data. In addition, for the census to be conducted in the best possible way, all citizens will be properly informed with a communication campaign based on the claim “Italy needs samples” (which obviously plays on the double meaning of statistics and sports). Istat’s idea is to convey the value of the permanent census as a continuous source of information that is indispensable for reading and interpreting a constantly shifting reality like Italy’s. In fact, participation should be seen not only as a legal obligation, but also as anopportunity for the country. The objective of the information campaign is therefore to make people understand that Italy is made up of many “champions” of their daily lives, small stories that become part of a collective story (see in this regard the YouTube video). The project is told in detail on the website www.censimentigiornodopogiorno.it, a digital hub that collects curiosities, video contributions, and communication actions put in place to promote and inform about the census (there will also be a photo contest for social, #UnGiornoDaCampione, to spur web users to direct action).

Finally, the new national census will ensure that all the data collected will be digitized so that it can be more easily and quickly used to monitor education, training, employment, health, and mobility. It is also necessary to emphasize how the Permanent Census will give important help to the sustainable development policies promoted by Italy and the European Union, since more accurate and annual data allow for better growth policies and better use of resources.

Pictured: visitors to The Last Caravaggio exhibition in Milan in 2018. Ph. Credit Windows on Art

7 out of 10 Italians do not visit museums: but how do Istat statistics work, and how will they change from 2018?

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