Italy included prostitutes on the national list of professions

Italy for the first time directly entered the prostitution in the business classification it uses to collect data and tax purposes, the National Statistical Institute announced. This also includes activities such as escort services, events and premises management.

The prostitution in Italy is in a special position as it is allowed to offer sex services, but this activity has no specific rules. On the other hand, organizing sex workers – for example, in a public home – is strictly forbidden.

Sex workers are now expected to use a business code in the classifier accepted by Italian authorities to register for VAT and try to legalize their status, Reuters added.

In Italy, workers in the sector often do not have access to labor rights and cannot declare income or pay taxes. It is quite different in other European countries such as the Netherlands and Germany, where sex work is regulated.

The Ateco system helps government agencies and researchers categorize activities to develop a policy and analysis of their place in the Italian business. The last update is this year, with the new codes in force on April 1.

The IStat National Statistical Institute put sex workers in the category of personal services, which also includes a tattoo studio and a party organizer. This is a move that tries to bring in the light historically located « in the shadows » industry.

In a statement published late Thursday, IStat said that sex workers are already eligible for entry into previous Ateco classifications, but the 2025 update mentioned them directly in accordance with a change in the European Union accounting rules.

EU accounting rules also apply to activities that are illegal in Italy, such as organizing groups of sex workers. Istat, however, specified that with regard to the Italian classification, only legitimate activities for the country will be taken into account for the Ateco code.

An employee familiar with the question said that Italian sex workers over the years have registered under alternative descriptions as a massage therapist to formalize their work.

Several consecutive governments in Italy have failed to cope with a thriving gray economy in a country where avoidance of the system is often considered a necessity or even art.

The latest available data show that the gray economy was worth over € 200 billion in 2022, which equals approximately 10% of gross domestic product, and is 9.6% more than in the previous year.