Italy bakes 2.7 billion pizzas a year.

Four out of 10 families in Italy make their own pizza at home, according to a poll commissioned by Italian agricultural lobby Coldiretti ahead of World Pizza Day on Friday.

"Italians' passion for pizza is so deep-rooted", Coldiretti said, "that 40 per cent prepare it at home, perhaps using special flours or gourmet ingredients".

With an estimated annual turnover of €15 billion, pizza is big business in Italy where 2.7 billion pizzas are baked every year - according to Coldirettti - requiring 200 million kg of flour, 225 million kg of mozzarella, 30 million kg of olive oil and 260 million kg of tomato sauce.

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The most popular take-away pizzas in Italy, according to online food delivery platform Deliveroo, are the Margherita, Diavola and Capricciosa, La Repubblica reports.

According to legend, the Margherita was invented in June 1889 in honour of Queen Margherita of Savoy when Neapolitan pizzaiolo Raffaele Esposito created a pizza topped with tomatoes, mozzarella and basil, to represent the colours of the Italian flag.

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In 2017 the "art of the Neapolitan pizzaiuolo" (pizza maker) was added to the UNESCO List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

World Pizza Day, known in Italy as Giornata Mondiale della Pizza, is held on the feast day of Anthony Abbot - or Sant'Antonio Abate - the protector of animals and patron saint of pizzaioli.