Presentation of the 2023 Immigration Report

The XXXII Immigration Report for 2023 was presented in Rome, an initiative promoted by Caritas Italiana and Fondazione Migrantes. As of January 1, 2023, ISTAT estimates indicate the presence of 5,050,257 foreign citizens residing in Italy, a slight increase compared to the previous year.

The data indicates that the Italian labour market in the first quarter of 2023 is in a phase of recovery, with a steady growth in employment, increasing by 2.4% between 2021 and 2022. An interesting aspect relates to foreign workers in Italy. For those who do not come from European Union countries, the employment rate is slightly lower than the overall average, standing at 59.2%. The inactivity rate has seen a modest increase (+0.6%), but the unemployment rate has followed the general trend of decrease.

The sectors that have recorded the most significant employment growth are Tourism and Hospitality (+16.8%, with a notable +35.7% of non-EU workers) and Construction (+8.4%, rising to +13.8% for non-EU workers). However, in 2022, the higher presence of foreign workers was observed in Agriculture (39.2% of the total), followed by Construction (30.1%) and Industry (22.1%).

The nationalities that have seen the most significant increases in employment between 2021 and 2022 are Albanian, Moroccan, and Chinese, with increases ranging from 7.1% to 17.7%. However, some nationalities maintain higher employment rates than the non-EU average (59.2%), such as Filipinos, Peruvians, Chinese, and Ukrainians, all with rates around 65%. Conversely, citizens of Morocco, Nigeria, and Pakistan have lower employment rates.