Young Italians Emigration Surges, Over 350,000 Leave in a Decade

Rome: Some 352,000 young people emigrated from Italy in the last decade, highlighting a significant trend in the country’s demographic changes. Istat President Francesco Maria Chelli revealed to parliament that over a million individuals left Italy between 2013 and 2022, with young people aged 25 to 34 accounting for roughly a third of this number.

According to Ansa News Agency, Chelli provided further details, noting that 132,000 of these young emigrants, or 37.7%, were university graduates. This statistic underscores the impact of emigration on Italy’s educated workforce. Chelli reported these figures to the parliamentary commission investigating the economic and social implications of the country’s demographic transition.

Chelli also shared that the return of young people in the same age group to Italy numbered around 104,000, which included over 45,000 graduates. The difference between those repatriating and expatriating remains negative, with Italy experiencing a net loss of 87,000 young graduates during this period.

The trend continued in 2022, with a negative balance of 12,000 individuals. In that year alone, young graduates who emigrated primarily chose Germany and the United Kingdom as their destinations, with 3,000 moving to Germany and 2,600 to the UK.