ROME – Italy is witnessing an extraordinary shift in its population dynamics, with more foreigners arriving and more Italians leaving than at any point in the last decade — a trend that’s raising concerns about economic stagnation, brain drain, and the country’s long-standing struggle with migration policy.
According to new data released by Italy’s national statistics agency, ISTAT, 382,071 foreign nationals moved to Italy in the last year — a slight increase from the 378,372 who arrived in 2023, and the highest number since 2014. At the same time, 155,732 Italians left the country — a sharp rise from 114,057 the previous year — also the highest emigration figure in a decade.
For a country governed by a right-wing coalition that came to power in 2022 promising to curb immigration, the numbers present a complex reality. Italy is not only facing rising migration, but it is also desperately in need of foreign labor, as its population shrinks and its workforce ages.
Ironically, while the government tightens borders, Italy’s stagnant economy and low wages — which, when adjusted for inflation, are now below 1990 levels — are pushing young, educated Italians to leave. Over the last two years, nearly 270,000 Italians have emigrated — a 40% increase compared to the previous two-year period. Meanwhile, immigration surged by 31%, with 760,000 people arriving in the same timeframe.
ISTAT says the biggest group of new arrivals came from Ukraine, followed by Albanians, Bangladeshis, Moroccans, Romanians, Egyptians, Pakistanis, Argentinians, and Tunisians. Many of the Italian nationals leaving the country were likely former immigrants who had acquired Italian citizenship before relocating again.
The situation is even more critical in the south of Italy, particularly in Calabria, the region with the lowest per capita income. There, nearly 1% of the population migrated internally to northern or central Italy in just the past year — further deepening the socioeconomic divide between the country’s regions.
While immigration continues to be a politically heated issue, these latest figures suggest that Italy’s real challenge is twofold: holding on to its own citizens while also filling the gaps left behind by an aging and declining workforce.
