Non-EU immigrants: 61% employment and 1.8 million jobs

The presence of minors also differs from city to city, reaching 20.8% in Catania and 18% in Genoa and Turin. In Rome it is instead 13.8% and in Naples 14.5%. In all the metropolitan cities, the gender balance does not differ from the national average, which shows a slight male prevalence (52%).

Non-EU citizens represent a significant component of the labour market. However, their activity is concentrated in low-skilled occupations. In 2024, there were approximately 1.77 million non-EU employees, or 7.4 per cent of the national total, with an employment rate of 61.3 per cent, slightly lower than that of Italians, which is 62.2 per cent. And, in some metropolitan cities such as Catania, Naples and Rome, the employment rate of non-EU citizens exceeds that of Italians. Unemployment remains higher on average (10.2 per cent compared to 6.1 per cent for Italians), while the incidence of the inactive is slightly lower (31.7 per cent compared to 33.7 per cent for Italians).

The territorial differences are very strong and reflect local specificities. The highest employment rates are recorded in Milan (68.7%), Florence (68.6%), Rome (66.9%) and Genoa (66.3%), while lower than average values characterise Messina (52.4%), Bari (50%), Naples (48.3%) and Palermo (44.4%). Non-EU workers are concentrated in services, industry and construction, with medium and low-skilled occupations.

Next to employment there is also entrepreneurship. There are more than 528 thousand non-EU-led companies (+1.2% compared to 2023) and they represent 9% of the national enterprises (in Florence and Genoa more than 15% and in Milan 14.5%). They are mostly sole proprietorships operating in services, industry, trade, catering and construction.

Determining the regular non-EU population in Italia are on the one hand the entries into the country (the residence permits issued) and on the other hand the acquisitions of citizenship, which in 2024 were 199,797, 1.9% more than in 2023. New residence permits issued in 2024 totalled 290,119, down 12.3% from 2023. The decrease mainly affected Rome (-29%), Venice (-24.7%), Catania (-24.2%) and Genoa (-23%) while the number of permits issued increased in Bari (+35.2%), Turin (+17%) and Cagliari (+9.6%). More than half of the non-EU citizens in Italia (52.8%) have a long-term residence permit and family reasons continue to be the main reason for issuing permits (37%).