Foreign citizens residing in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, as documented in January 2025, "reach the number of 580,000: amounting to 12.9 percent of the total population of the region.

More than one person in every eight is a foreigner," explained University Professor, Valerio Vanelli, from Bologna.

Vanelli is the co-author of a chapter in the "Migration Statistics file for 2025", edited among others by the IDOS research center with the patronage of the Region whose data, both the national and regional data from Emilia-Romagna, were presented on November 4.

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A higher concentration of foreigners in Bologna

At the national level, continues Professor Vanelli, "the incidence of foreigners is slightly over 9 percent: this means that Emilia-Romagna once again has the highest proportion of foreigners, followed by Lombardy."

There are numerous territorial differences, he added, "as foreigners prefer the municipalities that are provincial capitals: the share of foreign residents in the municipality of Bologna, for example, reaches 15.7 percent. In the cities of Piacenza and Parma the proportion is over 15 percent, and in Modena it is under 14 percent. All other provinces are below the regional average, with the lowest proportions in Ferrara, Forlì, Cesena, and Rimini."

In addition to demographics, data on the origin of the foreigners was provided, showing people coming from 160 different countries, now living in the region.

In relation to the EU, these are mostly Romanians, making up 22 percent of the total, continued Professor Varvelli.

Almost half of all the foreigners in the region are from EU countries, just over a quarter are from North Africa (27 percent), and around 21 percent from South-East Asia, an area that is growing significantly in proportion.

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Employment

In particular, in Emilia Romagna, similarly to what is happening at a national level, Romanians account for 17 percent of employees, topping the list of Europeans working in the region. They are followed in terms of foreigners employed in the region by nationals from Morocco and Albania, who account for around ten percent of all employees.

Lastly, nationals from Ukraine, surpassed nationals from China in terms of foreigners employed in Emilia Romagna.

Pietro Pinto, from the National Scientific Committee of migration statistics, stated that at the national level, "the percentage of foreign workers over Italians is approximately 10 percent, while in Emilia-Romagna it is growing, and has gone up from 12 percent to 13 percent."

This is "essential data that shows that, despite all the difficulties, there is an increase of foreign workers in the job market, and there is also an increased ability to integrate."

The demographic figure that emerged -- Luca Rizzo Nervo, delegate for the President's Legislative Assembly for Migration Policies commented -- "is relevant as the foreigners are on average 36 years old compared to Italians who are 48 years old on average in the region. Partly because of their age, they are becoming ever more present in the job market."

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