Immigration to Italy

In 2021, Istat estimated that 5,171,894 foreign citizens lived in Italy, representing about 8.7% of the total population.^[1][2] These figures do not include naturalized foreign-born residents (about 1,620,000 foreigners acquired Italian citizenship from 1999 to 2020, of whom 130,000 did so in 2020^[3]) as well as illegal immigrants, the so-called clandestini, whose numbers, difficult to determine, are thought to be at least 670,000.^[4]

In 2021, around 6,260,000 people residing in Italy have an immigration background (around the 10.6% of the total Italian population).^[2][5][6]

Starting from the early 1980s, until then a linguistically and culturally homogeneous society, Italy begun to attract substantial flows of foreign immigrants.^[7][8] After the fall of the Berlin Wall and, more recently, the 2004 and 2007 enlargements of the European Union, large waves of migration originated from the former socialist countries of Eastern Europe (especially Romania, Albania, Ukraine, Moldova and Poland). Another source of immigration is neighbouring North Africa (in particular, Morocco, Egypt and Tunisia), with soaring arrivals as a consequence of the Arab Spring. Furthermore, in recent years, growing migration fluxes from Asia-Pacific (notably China,^[9] South Asia, and the Philippines) and Latin America have been recorded.

Since the expansion of the European Union, the most recent wave of migration has been from surrounding European states, particularly Eastern Europe, and increasingly Asia,^[10] replacing North Africa as the major immigration area.^[7]

Romanians made up the largest foreign community in the country (1,077,876; around 10% of them being ethnic Romani people^[11]) followed by Albanians (433,130) and Moroccans (428,940).^[12] The fourth largest, but the fastest growing, community of foreign residents in Italy was represented by the Chinese; as of 2021 there were 330,495 foreigners holding Chinese citizenship.^[13][14] The majority of Chinese living in Italy are from the city of Wenzhou in the province of Zhejiang.^[15] As of 2021, foreign citizens' origins were subdivided as follows: Europe (47,6%), Africa (22.25%), Asia (22.64%), The Americas (7.49%), and Oceania (0.04%).^[16]

The distribution of foreigners is largely uneven in Italy: in 2020, 61.2% of foreign citizens lived in Northern Italy (in particular 36.1% in the Northwest Italy and 25.1% in the Northeast Italy), 24.2% in the Central Italy, 10.8% in the South Italy and 3.9% in the Insular Italy.^[17]

The children born in Italy to foreign mothers were 102,000 in 2012, 99,000 in 2013 and 97,000 in 2014.^[18]

Statistics[edit]

On foreigners only, for more information dealing with foreigners who have subsequently acquired Italian citizenship refer to Eurostat site.

Foreign citizens (thus not including naturalized Italians and descendants) by country of origin ^{[note 2][31]}

Country	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022[32]	2023 [33]	Regions with significant populations
Romania	177,812	248,849	297,570	342,200	625,278	658,789	726,151	782,014	834,465	933,354	1,081,400	1,131,839	1,151,395	1,168,552	1,190,091	1,143,859	1,145,718	1,076,412	1,083,771	1,081,836	Lazio
Albania	270,383	316,659	348,813	375,947	401,949	422,142	441,182	450,190	450,908	464,962	495,709	490,483	467,687	448,407	440,465	423,212	421,591	433,171	419,987	416,829	Lombardy
Morocco	253,362	294,945	319,537	343,228	365,908	368,608	388,406	400,695	408,667	426,791	454,773	449,058	437,485	420,651	416,531	406,112	414,249	428,947	420,172	415,088	Lombardy
China	86,738	111,712	127,822	144,885	156,519	154,066	168,048	184,173	197,064	223,367	256,846	265,820	271,330	281,972	290,681	283,430	288,923	330,495	300,216	307,038	Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol
Ukraine	57,971	93,441	107,118	120,070	132,718	134,351	150,527	171,586	180,121	191,725	219,050	226,060	230,728	234,354	237,047	227,867	228,560	235,953	225,307	249,613	Campania
Bangladesh	27,356	35,785	41,631	49,575	55,242	60,433	67,267	73,761	81,683	92,695	111,223	115,301	118,790	122,428	131,967	131,023	138,895	158,020	159,003	174,058	Lombardy
India	44,791	54,288	61,847	69,504	77,432	85,682	97,246	109,177	118,409	128,903	142,453	147,815	150,456	151,430	151,791	147,153	153,209	165,512	162,492	167,333	Lombardy
Philippines	72,372	82,625	89,668	101,337	105,675	105,366	112,642	120,019	129,188	139,835	162,655	168,238	165,900	166,459	167,859	158,049	157,665	165,443	158,997	158,926	Lombardy
Egypt	40,583	52,865	58,879	65,667	69,572	54,838	58,587	62,400	66,932	76,691	96,008	103,713	109,871	112,765	119,513	119,864	128,095	139,569	140,322	147,797	Lombardy
Pakistan	27,798	35,509	41,797	46,085	49,344	50,082	57,808	66,323	71,031	80,658	90,615	96,207	101,784	108,204	114,198	116,631	121,609	135,520	134,182	144,129	Lombardy
Nigeria	26,383	31,647	34,310	37,733	40,641	38,676	41,486	44,734	48,220	56,476	66,833	71,158	77,264	88,533	106,069	114,096	113,049	119,089	119,435	123,646	Veneto
Senegal	46,478	53,941	57,101	59,857	62,620	60,364	63,883	69,467	73,702	80,325	90,863	94,030	98,176	101,207	105,937	105,227	106,198	111,092	110,763	112,598	Lombardy
Sri Lanka	39,231	45,572	50,528	56,745	61,064	57,765	61,955	65,270	71,573	79,530	95,007	100,558	102,316	104,908	107,967	104,763	107,598	112,018	108,069	109,828	Veneto
Moldova	24,645	37,971	47,632	55,803	68,591	85,327	99,867	122,374	132,175	139,734	149,434	147,388	142,266	135,661	131,814	122,762	118,516	122,667	114,914	109,804	Emilia Romagna
Tunisia	68,630	78,230	83,564	88,932	93,601	79,205	80,538	81,068	82,997	88,291	97,317	96,012	95,645	94,064	93,795	90,615	93,350	97,407	99,002	102,422	Lazio
Peru	43,009	53,378	59,269	66,506	70,755	72,319	80,455	88,850	93,841	99,173	109,851	109,668	98,176	99,110	97,379	91,859	91,662	96,546	94,131	98,733	Lazio
Poland	40,314	50,974	60,823	72,457	90,218	77,879	81,594	83,160	84,749	88,839	97,566	98,694	97,986	97,062	95,727	88,803	86,743	77,779	74,981	74,387	Sicily
Ecuador	33,506	53,220	61,953	68,880	73,235	69,362	73,862	78,172	80,333	82,791	91,861	91,259	87,427	83,120	80,377	74,661	72,644	72,193	66,590	63,211	Lombardy
Brazil	22,533	25,823	30,375	34,342	37,848	33,004	34,505	35,911	37,567	39,157	43,202	42,587	43,783	45,410	48,022	49,445	51,790	50,666	47,318	51,125	Lombardy
North Macedonia	51,208	58,460	63,245	74,162	78,090	89,066	92,847	89,900	73,972	76,608	78,424	72,175	73,512	67,969	65,347	60,581	55,816	55,771	53,443	51,090	Tuscany
Bulgaria	11,467	15,374	17,746	19,924	33,477	32,283	35,818	39,161	42,000	47,872	54,932	56,576	58,001	58,620	59,254	56,593	56,645	50,355	49,205	49,518	Lombardy
Ghana	29,252	32,754	34,499	36,540	38,400	39,801	41,127	42,696	44,364	48,575	51,602	50,414	48,637	48,138	49,940	49,797	49,543	50,778	48,280	47,335	Emilia Romagna
Russia	14,311	17,188	18,689	20,459	21,523	21,720	23,808	27,644	28,604	30,948	34,483	35,211	35,791	36,361	37,384	36,512	37,424	39,746	36,982	39,705	Lombardy
Kosovo							16,234	22,778	40,475	43,751	46,248	42,550	43,091	41,344	40,371	39,630	38,645	38,860	37,064	36,372
Germany	34,664	35,559	36,834	38,135	40,163	35,991	35,681	35,272	34,936	35,576	38,136	36,749	36,661	36,660	36,806	35,442	35,316	35,091	32,984	34,003	Lombardy
Serbia						57,826	53,875	52,954	43,022	43,816	46,958	41,708	42,264	39,937	39,690	35,578	33,322	32,898	31,342	30,835	Lombardy
France	26,428	26,951	28,021	29,205	30,803	25,893	25,217	24,445	23,985	25,016	29,078	27,696	28,634	29,281	29,991	29,008	29,721	31,354	28,735	29,942	Lombardy
Dominican Republic	13,904	15,286	16,725	17,892	18,591	19,765	21,263	22,247	23,020	25,405	28,623	28,804	28,202	28,002	28,451	28,208	29,111	30,255	28,812	29,571	Lombardy
Georgia	447	569	675	811	1,012	1,330	2,403	5,612	7,083	9,123	12,124	13,688	14,045	14,603	15,203	15,021	15,667	18,272	22,907	29,222	Tuscany
Ivory Coast	11,435	13,228	14,378	15,637	17,132	17,840	19,196	20,159	20,878	23,563	25,953	25,362	25,056	26,159	30,271	31,001	30,038	29,673	28,385	28,559	Lombardy
Spain	14,019	14,837	15,503	16,292	17,354	14,339	14,443	14,518	15,129	17,021	20,682	21,286	22,593	23,828	24,870	24,936	25,954	32,637	26,417	27,854	Lombardy
United Kingdom	20,972	22,318	23,324	24,673	26,448	22,542	22,563	22,411	22,839	23,744	26,377	25,864	26,634	27,208	28,168	27,857	29,654	30,325	28,355	27,758	Lombardy
Cuba	10,149	11,363	12,927	14,073	14,581	14,290	14,956	15,637	16,350	17,538	19,316	19,999	20,662	20,986	21,418	21,417	22,311	22,958	21,499	23,531	Lombardy
El Salvador	4,240	5,085	5,509	5,895	6,144	7,088	7,599	8,430	9,235	10,443	11,809	12,973	13,007	13,492	14,626	15,437	16,270	20,038	20,608	22,693	Lombardy
Gambia	541	628	650	676	748	740	807	878	941	1,244	1,630	3,271	8,016	13,780	19,567	22,075	21,336	22,213	21,826	22,637	Sicily
Mali	547	642	702	735	832	992	1,090	1,263	1,252	2,946	4,470	6,098	10,369	14,768	19,134	20,078	19,350	20,015	20,008	21,032	Campania
Colombia	13,989	15,843	16,810	17,640	17,890	15,713	16,261	16,764	17,086	17,880	19,661	18,956	18,777	17,968	17,956	17,539	18,053	19,848	19,025	20,856	Lombardy
Bosnia and Herzegovina	20,152	22,436	24,142	26,298	27,356	26,094	26,850	27,408	28,015	28,996	29,831	29,442	27,199	25,791	25,034	22,944	21,911	21,442	21,234	20,454	Veneto
Turkey	9,130	11,077	12,359	13,532	14,562	16,225	17,651	19,068	16,354	17,711	19,951	19,450	19,388	19,217	19,509	18,780	19,168	20,999	18,930	20,080	Lombardy
Algeria	15,493	18,736	20,202	21,519	22,672	19,834	20,433	20,577	20,725	21,801	23,095	22,679	21,765	20,437	19,823	18,507	18,468	18,538	17,998	18,095	Campania
Afghanistan	172	198	312	442	1,063	2,427	2,863	3,135	3,512	4,813	6,635	7,654	8,574	11,224	11,738	10,600	11,121	12,199	13,547	16,872	Lazio
Iran	6,405	6,550	6,566	6,850	6,913	5,922	5,877	5,830	5,962	7,273	8,995	9,813	10,304	10,794	11,565	11,837	12,866	14,255	14,009	16,490	Lombardy
United States of America	14,132	14,155	14,433	14,904	15,036	13,634	13,112	12,521	12,184	13,165	14,963	14,145	14,512	14,649	15,004	14,966	15,393	18,837	14,496	15,582	Lazio
Croatia	19,890	20,712	21,232	21,360	21,308	17,662	17,332	16,967	16,708	17,051	17,999	17,375	18,052	17,698	17,573	16,591	16,285	17,362	15,754	15,514	Lombardy
Cameroon	3,682	4,672	5,529	6,249	6,940	6,620	7,438	8,197	8,830	10,071	11,880	12,298	12,738	13,308	14,529	15,170	15,329	15,581	15,013	15,443	Emilia Romagna
Argentina	13,174	13,720	13,907	13,422	12,492	11,842	11,338	11,239	7,896	8,025	8,642	8,179	8,270	8,009	8,023	8,169	9,117	9,091	10,522	14,662	Lombardy
Burkina Faso	5,545	7,012	7,949	8,543	8,960	10,031	11,119	12,124	12,752	14,007	15,301	14,939	14,657	14,306	14,435	14,051	13,979	14,236	14,167	14,204	Lombardy
Venezuela	4,245	4,579	4,913	5,114	5,219	5,119	5,017	4,904	4,787	5,138	5,506	5,642	5,849	6,327	7,347	8,981	10,316	12,135	12,033	13,548	Lombardy
Bolivia	2,508	3,637	4,127	4,800	6,043	6,123	7,853	10,694	11,774	12,357	13,919	14,568	14,243	14,076	13,955	13,277	13,141	13,271	12,924	12,930	Lombardy
Guinea	1,259	1,604	1,813	2,014	2,268	2,467	2,713	2,994	3,297	3,896	4,371	4,490	4,928	6,897	11,240	12,728	12,213	12,259	11,796	11,880	Lombardy
Somalia	5,963	6,094	6,249	6,414	6,237	6,663	7,728	8,112	4,586	5,235	6,878	7,677	7,903	8,228	9,102	8,626	8,515	7,629	8,370	9,349	Lazio
Belarus	2,095	2,791	3,258	3,767	4,265	5,062	5,952	6,975	6,654	7,446	8,177	8,195	8,529	8,636	8,885	8,704	8,808	9,269	8,811	9,248	Lombardy
Netherlands	6,787	6,989	7,356	7,752	8,165	7,166	7,157	7,111	7,163	7,378	7,856	7,851	8,106	8,243	8,344	8,184	8,283	10,100	8,367	8,820	Lombardy
Eritrea	4,900	5,634	7,090	8,972	11,386	11,911	12,967	13,368	8,074	8,752	11,187	10,570	9,597	9,394	9,343	8,141	8,035	6,912	6,575	6,404
Rest of Europe	118,159	119,870	128,299	132,310	143,602