Farewell to Treviso, wages and cost of living weigh heavily: only one in three returns

There are 11,724 people emigrating from the province of Treviso in the three-year period 2022-2024: over 13 (13.4 to be exact) per thousand inhabitants, one of the highest figures recorded in Italy. Yet the percentage variation of the population over the same period is practically stable, a seemingly perfect balance between those who leave and those who arrive.

These numbers are difficult to interpret, explains Lorenzo Di Lenna, a researcher at the North-Eastern Foundation, which has dedicated more than one in-depth study to demographic change: 'We do not know the citizenship of those who emigrate: it could be family reunions by foreigners who have lived in Treviso for some time and now continue their life journey elsewhere. There is also the fact that many expatriates do not update temporarily their residence, even though it is compulsory: it may be that the numbers recorded in recent years refer to previous exits. "What we do know for sure," adds the researcher, "is that emigration is on the rise, and not only in the younger age brackets; from 2011 to 2023 Veneto lost 35,000 under-35s. A trend confirmed and opposite to that of the youth population, which is in constant decline'.

It is difficult for the Treviso population to be compensated by returns from abroad: 'On average,' says Di Lenna, 'one in three returns to Italy. To be considered, however, is that internal migration, from southern Italy in the first place, is substantial. Young people who choose to graduate in Veneto, and once they find a job they also move residence'.

The 19th 'Report on the presence and distribution of immigrants in the province' (produced by Caritas of Treviso and Vittorio Veneto, Migrantes Treviso, Anolf, Cisl Belluno Treviso and the social cooperatives La Esse and Una Casa per l'Uomo) had highlighted a reflection, compared to the previous two-year period, in the number of foreign citizens resident in the Marca: 89,366 as at 1 January 2024. According to the associations, a context of 'gradual loss ofattractiveness of the province of Treviso for stable migrants due to the increase in the cost of living, the difficulty in finding housing, and the increasingly widespread phenomenon of poor work' is weighing on the natality.

Franco Conte, president of Trevisani nel mondo, also tries to interpret the data on departures for foreign countries: 'In this province the search for personnel by companies is continuous, there is no lack of work. For some years now we have decided to meet those who leave, to investigate their motivations. We have discovered that they are not only graduates, in search of work opportunities more in keeping with their qualifications, but many young technical or professional graduates, for whom the higher pay offered in other countries is decisive".