The 30th edition of the annual report on migration presented by the ISMU Foundation on February 17, highlighted that the number of irregular migrants has been dropping since 2019.

As of January 1 last year, 5.7 million foreigners were present in Italy (5,775,000). The study showed that there was a slight increase in the number of residents (5.2 million (5,254,000) in the country, an increase of 113,000 compared to figures from 2022, but a decrease in the number of irregular migrants reported since 2019 overall.

According to its website, ISMU is an "independent scientific research organization studying migration phenomena and integration processes." The study found that some 321,000 migrants were without a residence permit, or 5.6 percent of the total, 137,000 fewer than the previous year, while in 2023 a reported 214,000 people were granted Italian citizenship (overall some 1.7 million have become citizens since 2011).

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Foreign workers and the labor market

Over the past 30 years, the report showed how the presence of foreign nationals in Italy is becoming increasingly relevant, partly because of the increase of nearly three million in the decade between 2001 to 2011, and that that presence was having a significant impact on many sectors of society, from economy to the labor market.

For example in 2023, some 2.3 million foreign-born people were employed in Italy, compared to the 160,000 who had a job at the beginning of the 1990s. However, while the percentage of Italians in employment between 2005 and 2023 grew from 57.2 percent to 61.2 percent, it decreased for foreigners by 4.2 percentage points (from 65.8 percent to 61.6 percent) - down by 6.4 points for men and 4.3 for women.

The unemployment rate among foreigners stands at 15.5 percent, found the study. Many second generation immigrants are now working in Italy, but the majority find work in unskilled sectors, stated the report.

Only just over 20 percent of those born abroad who have a university degree (obtained in a foreign country) were reported to have a qualified job compared to 70 percent of those who were born in Italy. And the employment rate among those with a university degree was 69.6 percent, down by 15.7 percentage points compared to their Italian counterparts.

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Over 2 million domestic workers requested this year

In 2023, the number of work permits issued dived by 42.2 percent while residence permits to join family members and to study, as well as asylum and international protection applications rose, from 130,000 in 2023 to 116,000 in the first nine months of the year alone.

The report highlighted the rising demand for foreign workers: in particular the request for domestic workers in 2025 is expected to be around 2.2 million. Around 1.5 million of these posts are expected to be covered by foreign nationals, stated the ISMU foundation.

In 2024, according to data from the Excelsior system, around 1.8 million foreign nationals were hired to work in Italy in various sectors, the highest figure ever registered in absolute terms. The logistics and transport sector saw increases of 30.5 percent in the hiring of foreign nationals, and overall in Italy in 2024, there was around a 19 percent increase, found the study.