Bankitalia

Migrants' remittances rise to 8.6 billion: Bangladesh in the lead, India second

Minister Piantedosi: '-37% landings over 2022, we are on the right track'

by Letizia Giostra

11 April 2026

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Key points

Decline in landings
The rise of repatriations
Bankitalia, remittances to foreign countries to grow +3.9% in 2025
Rimesse, Bangladesh first beneficiary

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

There are 66,316 irregular migrants who have landed on Italian shores making 1,493 journeys. This is the snapshot of the phenomenon whose data - relating to the year 2025 - were presented by the State Police during the 174th anniversary celebrations since their foundation, in the presence of Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi. In terms of landing areas, Sicily ranks first, with 55,581 arrivals, followed by Calabria (2,468) and Sardinia (2,169). Sicilian islands such as Lampedusa, Linosa and Lampione alone received 49,692 landings.

Last year, the migrant flow consisted mainly of people from Bangladesh with 20,259 arrivals, ahead of Egypt with 9,115 and Eritrea with 7,583.

Decline in landings

The figures for the first quarter of this year show - according to Piantedosi - a 40% decrease in arrivals compared to the same time window but in 2025. For the minister, 'the right path' has been taken to combat irregular arrivals and reduce the number of landings. "I have personally committed myself, among other things by travelling to countries such as Bangladesh, Pakistan and the Ivory Coast, to establish fruitful collaborations, so much so that to date arrivals from those countries have more than halved, if not collapsed completely," Piantedosi continued.

The increase in returns

And while landings are decreasing, deportations are growing: in 2025 there were more than 50 per cent more than in 2022, with a 20 per cent increase in 2026. Since the beginning of the legislature, foreigners deported for security reasons were 239, 40% more than in the previous three years.

"We have moved in these three and a half years in the knowledge that uncontrolled flows favour situations of social marginality and illegality. But above all, they hand over to the profiteering of unscrupulous criminals a phenomenon linked to economic and demographic imbalances of a world order,' is the minister's comment on what he calls 'human trafficking'.

Bankitalia, remittances to foreign countries grow +3.9% in 2025

In addition to the report by the State Police, there is also one by the Bank of Italia. The topic is that of remittances, a flow of money that adds up to migratory flows. In the fourth quarter of 2025, remittances sent abroad by foreigners resident in Italia increased by 2.4 per cent compared to the same period the previous year. Over the year as a whole, remittances grew by €323 million compared to 2024 (+3.9 per cent); increases in flows to countries in Asia (392 million; +11.5 per cent), North Africa and the Near East (59 million; +6.4 per cent) and Europe outside the Union (11 million; +1.0 per cent) more than offset the decline in remittances sent to the remaining areas, in particular to sub-Saharan Africa (-91 million; -8.2 per cent) and European Union countries (-41 million; -6.4 per cent).

Rimesse, Bangladesh first beneficiary

And it is Bangladesh that takes the podium as the leading recipient country of remittances from Italia, with its share of the total rising to 19.6 per cent. It is followed by India with 6.9 per cent, whose incidence has significantly increased, climbing four places since 2024. Closing the ranking is Morocco with a share of 6.7 per cent, narrowly edged out by the Philippines. Latium and Campania, on the other hand, are the Italian regions that have recorded the largest increase in remittances abroad, confirming the figure of two years ago.