The number of Italians living abroad is increasing. This is what emerges from the XVIII edition of the “Italians in the World Report” of the Migrantes Foundation published yesterday. As of 1 January 2023, there were 5,933,418 compatriots registered in the Aire (the registry of Italians residing abroad), 10.1% of the 58.8 million Italians residing in Italy. The presence of Italians abroad has grown by +91% from 2006 to today. Italians abroad have practically doubled (99.3%), minors have increased by +78.3% and over 65s by +109.8%. Those born abroad have grown since 2006 by +175%, acquisitions of citizenship by +144%, departures for expatriation by +44.9%, transfers from other countries by +70%.
46.5% of the almost 6 million Italians residing abroad are of Southern origin (15.9% from the Islands alone), 37.8% from the North (19.1% from the North West) and 15 .8% of the Center. In the last year, for the first time the “expatriation” reason in registering with the Aire was surpassed by births abroad of Italian citizens (43.4%, almost 91 thousand registrations).
Furthermore, contrary to what happens in Italy, the community abroad is increasingly younger. The age groups of young people, young adults and mature adults are growing: 23.2% (over 1.3 million) are between 35 and 49 years old; 21.7% (more than 1.2 million) are between 18 and 34 years old. Sicily is the main region of origin (over 815 thousand). This is followed by Lombardy (almost 611 thousand), Campania (+548 thousand), Veneto (+526 thousand) and Lazio (almost 502 thousand). 48.2% of the 6 million Italians abroad are women (over 2.8 million).
Europe welcomes over 3.2 million compatriots (54.7% of the total) on the run. The American continent follows with over 2.3 million (40.1%). 16.4% of registrations for expatriation concerned the United Kingdom; 13.8% Germany; 10.4% France and 9.1% Switzerland. The top four countries, all European, account for 50% of the total departures. The largest Italian communities are in Argentina (over 921 thousand members, 15.5% of the total), in Germany (over 822 thousand, 13.9%), in Switzerland (over 639 thousand, 10.8%) . Followed by Brazil, France, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.
The Report also highlighted the increase in the number of those who, after living abroad for a period, return to their homeland. ”During the decade 2012-2021, the number of repatriations of Italian citizens from abroad more than doubled, going from 29 thousand in 2012 to approximately 75 thousand in 2021 (+154%). A trend which, after substantial stability in the first four years of the decade, appears to be continuously increasing”, we read in the document.
”A more detailed analysis of the migratory movement of young people returning by educational qualification and gender shows a different composition of repatriations: the share of those returning with a degree or a post-graduate qualification (master’s, doctorate, etc.) in 2021 is higher than that observed at the beginning of the decade – the report continues –. The incidence of young graduates repatriated is always higher than that of their peers repatriated in the same year. From 2012 to 2021, one in five young graduates will return from the UK, 9% from Germany, 8% from Brazil and 6% from France or Switzerland.”
This article is originally published on borsaitaliana.it
