Politics · Italy · 6 hrs ago
Private donations to Italian politics fell 20.1% in 2025
Private contributions to Italian politics fell to €16.281 million in 2025, according to preliminary figures presented in Rome by Transparency International Italy.
That was a 20.1% drop from 2024 and the lowest annual total since 2018.
From 2020 to 2025, the political system collected about €134.4 million in private contributions.
The figures continue a decline in money reaching parties, while donations are increasingly directed to individual candidates and political foundations.
The groups presenting the findings said existing transparency rules focus mainly on parties and do not adequately show who funds candidates and related organizations.
Final figures are due to be updated in November, after parties have more time under the law to report donations.
Private donations to Italian politics fell 20.1% in 2025, to €16.281 million, according to preliminary data from Transparency International Italy.
The total was the lowest since 2018 and well below the nearly €33 million recorded in 2022.
The Lega received the most private funding among parties in 2025, followed by Forza Italia and the M5S.
Transparency advocates said more disclosure is needed as donations increasingly go directly to individual candidates and political associations or foundations.
- Who
- Italian political parties and candidates received private donations; Transparency International Italy presented preliminary data.
- What
- Private donations to politics fell 20.1% in 2025, to €16.281 million.
- When
- In 2025; preliminary data were presented on October 29, 2026.
- Where
- At the Fondazione Lelio e Lisli Basso in Rome.
- Why
- The article says private funding increasingly goes directly to candidates rather than parties. Transparency advocates called for stronger disclosure rules.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
The political system collected about €134.4 million in private contributions over the six-year period.
Private contributions reached a peak of nearly €33 million.
Private contributions totalled €16.281 million, down 20.1% from 2024.
Preliminary data were presented at a public event in Rome.
- Private contributions in 2025
- €16.281 million
- Change from 2024
- Down 20.1%
- Lowest total since
- 2018
- Largest recipient in 2025
- Lega, €4.325 million
- Second-largest recipient
- Forza Italia, €3.048 million
- Third-largest recipient
- M5S, €2.698 million
What people are saying
Between 2020 and 2025, the political system collected a total of about 134.4 million euros in private contributions.
If money today goes directly to candidates, there needs to be real transparency about the funding of individual elected officials.
Private interests no longer find it useful to go through the party; they reach the candidate directly.