The population foreign resident in Italy is confirmed as stable at altitude 5 million at the beginning of 2023, equal to 8.6% of the total. The average age of foreigners is 35.3 years, compared to 46.9 of Italians. The demographic indicators explain the different trend well: among foreigners there are 11.0 births per thousand inhabitants and 2.0 deaths; among Italians, 6.3 births and 13.0 deaths per thousand inhabitants.
The number of “naturalized” Italian foreigners is also significant: 133 thousand in 2022, for a total of 1.4 million in the last 11 years. These are some of the data contained within the 2023 Annual Report on the Economics of Immigrationcurated by the Leone Moressa Foundation and presented yesterday (Thursday 19 October, ed.) at the Interior Ministry and the Chamber of Deputies.
In 2022 there were 338 thousand Residence permits released by Italy, the highest peak of the last decade. Above all, work-related admissions are recovering, representing almost a fifth of the total. The 67 thousand entries for work in 2022 are the result of Decree Flows 2021 (Draghi Government) and are therefore destined to increase in the coming years following the Decrees of the Meloni Government, which predicted 122 thousand entries for work in 2023 and 452 thousand in the period 2024-2026.
In Europe, the countries with the most immigrants for work are Poland, Spain e Germania. In Italia, the ratio between entries for work and the resident population (11.3 per 10 thousand inhabitants) remains lower than the EU average (27.4). The first entry channel into Italy, in fact, remains the reunion familiar (38.9% of the total).
After the decline due to the pandemic, the employment rate of foreigners (60.6%) returns to exceed that of Italians (60.1%), although remaining below pre-Covid levels. Foreign workers are 2.4 million and are concentrated in manual jobs: the incidence of foreigners, in fact, is on average 10.3% of total workers, but reaches 28.9% among unqualified personnel.
Immigrant workers produce 154.3 billion Value added, giving a contribution to GDP equal to 9%. The impact on GDP increases significantly in Agriculture (15.7%) and Construction (14.5%). The increase in numbers continues entrepreneurs immigrants, which in 2022 will be 761 thousand (10.1% of the total). In twelve years (2010-22), immigrants have grown (+39.7%) while Italians have decreased (-10.2%). Higher incidence in the Centre-North and in the Construction, Commerce and Catering sectors.
After the pandemic, the number of taxpayers immigrants. These are 4.3 million taxpayers (10.4% of the total), who in 2022 declared incomes of 64 billion euros and paid 9.6 billion in personal income tax. The per capita income differential between Italians and immigrants remains high (around 8 thousand euros per year difference), a direct consequence of employment concentration.
The balance between the revenue tax e contributory (income, 29.2 billion) and public spending on welfare services (expenditure, 27.4 billion), with +1.8 billion euros in surplus. Immigrants, mainly of working age, have a low impact on the main public spending items such as healthcare and pensions. (Teleborsa)