According to a report by the Italian National Statistics Institute ISTAT, nearly 500,000 stay permits were issued in the country in 2022. This record figure had not been seen in over 10 years and was an 86% increase on the previous year.
A total of 449,118 stay permits were issued in Italy in 2022, official figures show.
A notable impact was observed with the issuance of 148,000 permits for temporary protection granted to Ukrainian nationals in Italy due to the ongoing war in their home country. Of those, a total of 36.8% of the permits were for minors and 71.7% for women.
The figures were included in the 2022-2023 report by the Italian National Statistics Institute ISTAT on non-EU nationals in the country.
There are currently over 5 million foreign nationals living in Italy, a slight increase compared with 2022, according to the 2023 Caritas-Migrantes immigration report.
Some 59.1% of these foreign nationals live in northern Italy.
The report states that the number of births among foreign nationals living in Italy has been decreasing for the past decade. Furthermore, a total of 1.6 million live in a state of absolute poverty, with immigrants five times poorer than Italians, the report showed.
Interior minister notes '91,000 migrants from Tunisia'
"For many months we have been suffering very strong migration pressure across the central Mediterranean," said Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi in an information session at the Chamber of Deputies. The increase in migrant flows from Tunisia was around 376% higher compared with the previous year.
On the Italian island of Lampedusa, Piantedosi added, "from the beginning of the year until October 6, over 94,000 people disembarked, equal to about 70% of the total number of people who arrived in Italy" via sea in 2023.
The minister also said that "as of October 4, 3,471 migrants have been repatriated," more than in 2022 and 2021, and that 70% "transited through a CPR," a pre-deportation holding center.
On this issue and faced with an "insufficient" number of places in the centers, the government "has brought in several measures to increase their reception capacity," the minister said.
The aim, he added, is to have "218 places" more by the end of the year and to have available "at least one CPR per region."
Permits rise for asylum, work, and study
Meanwhile, the number of stay permits issued in Italy continues to rise "connected with asylum".
Most of these are for nationals of Bangladesh and Pakistan.
ISTAT noted that the number of stay permits for work and study had also increased.
Between 2021 and 2022, there was a 32.2% increase in stay permits for work and a 42.6% increase in ones for study purposes, leading to a total of over 25,000: a number not seen since 2013.
The number of long-term stay permits for "non-EU nationals residing in a stable manner in Italy for at least five years" instead dropped and accounted for 60% of currently valid stay permits.
More minors seen among migrants arriving
The report shows that ever more minors are seen among the migrants arriving in Italy via sea. An estimated 9,000 minors under age 18 arrived in Italy unaccompanied by an adult relative last year. The largest number were from Egypt followed by Ukrainians, Albanians, and Bangladeshi.
As of January 1 this year. there were over 3.7 million non-EU nationals residing in Italy with valid stay permits, a 4.7% rise on 2022. Minors account for 20.6% of the total. Among the top ten nationalities are Moroccans, Albanians, Ukrainians, and Chinese.
The Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities are also on the rise in Italy.