During the two-year period 2023–2024, the number of Italian citizens emigrating abroad and the number of foreign citizens immigrating to Italy reached their highest levels in the past decade, according to a report by the National Institute of Statistics (Istat) released on Friday, June 20, to mark World Refugee Day.
Italy has reported a strong 'mobility' with expatriations of Italian citizens, mainly young people who move abroad in search of better opportunities, and a growing number of foreign migrants who reach the peninsula to flee war, according to a new report published by the national statistics bureau Istat on June 20.
Overall, in the two-year period 2023-24, the expatriation of Italian citizens and the immigration of foreign citizens reached values never observed in the last 10 years.
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Ukraine main country of origin of flows
Overall, 270,000 (+39.3 percent compared to the previous two-year period) left Italy, while 760,000 entered the country (+31.1 percent).
Some 59,000 is the number of foreign immigrants in the two-year period 2023-24 coming from Ukraine, which confirms itself as the main country of origin of the flows, said the stats agency.
According to Istat, the "consistent" increase in foreign immigration over the past few years is also the result of international crises and conflicts that have influenced geopolitical scenarios, causing large-scale humanitarian crises.
In addition to Ukraine, other situations of conflict and instability, especially in the Middle East and Africa, have contributed to raising the number of refugees and asylum seekers, increasing the migration pressure.
Migrant flows have exceeded levels registered before the Covid-19 pandemic.
After the historic record reported in 2017 with 301,000 new entries, the number has progressively decreased to become stable with an annual average of 270,000 in the 2018-19 period.
In 2020, Covid-19 prevention measures determined a significant drop in arrivals (192,000), whose growth resumed in 2021.
Since 2022, migration waves determined by new humanitarian emergencies have contributed to establishing new records, with 378,000 arrivals in 2023 and 382,000 in 2024, according to figures released on World Refugee Day.
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Doing more on refugees is moral duty says President Mattarella
Doing more on refugees is a moral duty, President Sergio Mattarella said in a message on World Refugee Day.
"The condition of refugees and displaced persons from a growing number of armed conflicts, regional tensions and serious humanitarian crises, also induced by the growing impact of extreme climate events, is becoming increasingly serious," he said.
"It is a reality that challenges our consciences and calls us to do more for those who find themselves in conditions of fragility and need to affirm the inviolability of the dignity of every person. It is not just a humanitarian issue: it is a common legal and moral responsibility."
The report, moreover, revealed that the average age of foreign immigrants in the two-year period 2023-24 is 29.
The total 2019-2023 migratory balance of young graduates aged 25-34, thanks to the entry of foreign graduates from abroad, is +10,000, with Italy losing 58,000 graduates but gaining 68,000.
Young Italian graduates mainly choose a European destination when they leave the country, Istat said.
Over the 2019-23 period, Great Britain and Germany overall welcomed a third of expats (29,000), followed by France and Switzerland, with each attracting 8,000.
The United States ranked at the top of destinations outside the EU, with 4,000 young Italian graduates who moved there over the same period.
Between 2019 and 2023, 192,000 Italians between the ages of 25 and 34 expatriated while 73,000 returned to the country, with a net loss of 119,000 young people.
However, thanks to the arrival of young foreigners (+348,000), "a key factor to contain the effects of the demographic decline, the overall balance for this age group has led to a gain in terms of a young and active population, an additional 229,000 people," stressed the report.