Idos 2025 Immigration Statistics Report: 440,000 foreign residents, +3.7% compared to 2023. Immigration returns to growth in Tuscany

From 424,066 foreign residents to 439,789. Immigration in Tuscany has increased for the third consecutive year: after +2.1% in 2022 and the following year, in 2024 the foreign population rose by a further 3.7%, a figure corresponding to almost 16,000 people, at least according to provisional data released by Istat during the year.

The statistical dossier on immigration, with data relating to Tuscany, was presented on Tuesday 4 November at the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa. The dossier was produced by the IDOS Study and Research Centre, a national reference point for the analysis of migration phenomena in Italy and in the various regions. Present were Emanuele Rossi (professor at the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies), Anna Maria Romano (CGIL Tuscany Secretariat) and Sara Elisabeth Heinrich (Waldensian Pastor of the Diaconia of Pisa and Livorno), representing the supporters of the Dossier, Francesco Paletti (representative of the IDOS Study Centre for Tuscany), Federico Russo (professor at the University of Salento), and Francesca Biondi Dal Monte (professor at the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies).

Unlike in 2023, when the increase was mainly due to the limited number of foreigners who had left Tuscany, and therefore to a greater propensity to settle, the growth in 2024 would seem to be the result of a recovery in mobility and the attractiveness of the region, given that, according to the demographic balance sheet, the increase of almost 16,000 foreign residents at the end of the year is almost entirely absorbed by the net migration balance with foreign countries (+26,332, with 29,306 “new” foreigners registered in the registry), net of the 13,373 acquisitions of Italian citizenship which, logically, lower the number of foreign residents.

The other new development is that the territorial distribution of new migrants did not only concern the Florence-Prato area, the main and traditional settlement area for the foreign population, but also and above all the coastal strip, particularly the central-northern part. In percentage terms, in fact, the largest increase was achieved by the province of Massa Carrara (+6.7%), which for the second consecutive year is the leading Tuscan province in terms of percentage increase in foreign citizens. It is followed by Arezzo (+4.5%), Florence (+4.3%) and Prato (+4.1%), but also Lucca (+4.0%), which is not coincidentally adjacent to the province of Apuania.

In an economic context of modest growth, with a 0.6% increase in regional GDP - in line with the national average (0.7%) - more than the attractiveness of the main sectors of the economy, the increase in the foreign population, particularly in the coastal area, has a lot to do with the directives of the Ministry of the Interior on the redistribution of landings, which oblige boats engaged in rescues in the southern Mediterranean to make long journeys to the ports of central and northern Italy where migrants can finally be welcomed. In this regard, the province of Massa Carrara, which was very prominent in 2023 with 22 landings totalling 1,103 people, was also prominent in 2024, despite the drastic decline in arrivals on the Italian coast, with 708 migrants arriving at the port of Marina di Carrara in 12 different landings. However, a similar situation also affects the province of Livorno: in fact, 711 people arrived at the port of Livorno in 2024, an increase compared to 525 in the previous year.

Contrary to what one might expect, however, these trends are not reflected in the data on the presence of migrants in Tuscan reception facilities: in June 2024, there were 9,985 people housed (81.7% of whom were in the so-called “CAS and others”, the government centres), just 197 more (+2.0%) than in December 2023. The reason is likely that the arrivals of the previous year – +37.6% between 2022 and 2023, from 7,1135 to 9,788 migrants hosted – have almost exhausted the places available in the regional reception system.

The increase in foreign residents has further increased their weight in the total population of the region: in Tuscany, 12.0% of all those registered in the registry office are foreign (compared to 11.6% in 2023), a figure well above the national average (9.2%). The figures are pushed up mainly by Prato, which, with a percentage of 22.9%, remains the province with the highest incidence of foreign population in Italy, and Florence (13.8%). All other areas, on the other hand, are below the regional average.

The distribution by continent and main countries of origin is similar to that of previous years: almost half (45.3%) of foreigners in Tuscany are European (22.8% from EU countries and 21.3% from Central and Eastern Europe), almost a third are Asian (31.2%), a sixth are African (16.5%) and 6.9% are American. The largest community is Romanian (16.8% of the immigrant population), followed by Chinese (16.2%), Albanian (13.2%), Moroccan (6.7%) and Senegalese and Ukrainian (both 3.2%).

Employment: 214,000 foreign workers, but structural disadvantages remain

In 2024, the number of foreign workers reached almost 214,000, the highest ever recorded in Tuscany, accounting for 12.8% of the total workforce. This is what emerges from the Istat Labour Force Survey, according to which, overall, the number of employed persons in Tuscany grew by 2.5% to 1,668,000. The increase is due to both the positive trend in the Italian component (+19,000) and the foreign component (+20,000).

The increase in foreign employment is mainly due to the dynamics of the female component (+14,000), with a contribution that remains positive for the male component (+6,000) as well. As a result of this increase, the proportion of women in the total number of foreign workers rose to 45.3% (+2.6% compared to 2023), slightly above the average for all workers (44.5%). The employment rate, calculated as the ratio of employed persons to the population aged between 15 and 64, is also significant: for foreign workers, it is 66.8%, lower than that of Italians (71.5%) but sufficient to place Tuscany in fourth place nationally, behind Valle d'Aosta, Veneto and Trentino Alto Adige.

The figures seem to indicate a positive trend in foreign employment, but structural disadvantages remain. In this regard, it should be noted that foreign unemployment stands at 8.7%, which is down from 2023 (11.3%) and significantly lower than the national average (10.1%), but also well above the rate for Italians (5.9%).

Not only that, but around one third (33.2%) of immigrant workers are overqualified, i.e. they have a higher level of education and skills than those required for the job they do, compared to 27.7% of Italians. And 5.8% are underemployed, i.e. they work fewer hours than they would have liked and could have done, while for Italians the incidence is only 1.7%.

Furthermore, foreign workers continue to be employed in unskilled manual labour in a much higher percentage than Italians (24.6% compared to 7.2%), while they are much less likely to be employed as managers or in intellectual and technical professions (10% compared to 37.8% of Italians).

One sixth (16.4%) of businesses are owned by immigrants. Prato holds the national record (34.3%).

At the end of 2024, the total number of immigrant-owned businesses reached 64,154 at the regional level, an increase of 2.2% compared to the previous year and 10.9% compared to 2019. This increase contrasts with the decline in businesses owned by Italians, which have fallen by 7.6% over the last five years. The combination of these trends has brought the incidence of immigrant-owned businesses to 16.4% of the total number of active businesses in Tuscany, a much higher incidence than the national average (11.3%).

Among sole proprietors, more than 60% come from just four countries: China (23.3%), Albania (14.3%), Morocco (11.3%) and Romania (11.3%).

The distribution of foreign-owned immigrant businesses shows significant differences at the provincial level, with Prato standing out for its high concentration (34.3%), maintaining its national leadership. Florence follows (19.3%), while the other provinces have lower values.

Another specific feature concerns the female component: in Tuscany, 27.2% of “immigrant” businesses are run by women, a figure higher than the national average (24.7%). However, there are significant provincial differences in this case too: Prato ranks at the top in this area as well, with an incidence of female-led businesses reaching 35.1%, followed by Grosseto (29.1%).

Unlike the national picture, where the service sector predominates among “immigrant” businesses (58.1%), Tuscany shows a remarkable balance between industry and the service sector, with 27,651 businesses in the industrial sector and 30,484 in the service sector. The agricultural sector, on the other hand, accounts for 3,318 businesses, of which 866 are located in Grosseto.

School: 73,584 foreign students. Two out of three were born in Italy

Although to a minimal extent, foreign students also increased in the 2023/2024 school year, from 72,769 to 73,5784, an increase of just 1.1% over twelve months. This is a very slight increase, but not insignificant, for two main reasons: firstly, because in a scenario of demographic crisis, which is particularly acute in Tuscany, the albeit modest increase in the foreign component of the student population is the only element capable of compensating, at least partially, for the overall loss of pupils that has been going on for more than a decade. In fact, in the 2023/24 academic year, the total number of students fell by 1.4%. Secondly, because this is the second consecutive year of growth after the decline in foreign enrolments recorded during the two years of the pandemic, which suggests that the reasons for this decline have now been overcome.

As a result, the overall percentage of pupils of non-Italian citizenship in the total student population rises to 15.4%, which is well above the average percentage of foreigners in the total population (12.0%).

More than two-thirds of these students (67.4%, or 49,569 students) were born in Italy, although they remain foreigners in legal terms. The percentage rises to 70.8% in primary schools and 80.9% in nursery schools, while it falls slightly in lower secondary schools (66.1%) and, to a slightly greater extent, in upper secondary schools (56.6%).

The critical issue of the over-representation of foreign students in technical and vocational secondary schools remains, although it is less pronounced than a few years ago. In the 2023/2024 school year, among young foreign nationals enrolled in secondary school, 33.3% chose a liceo (high school), while 35.6% opted for a technical institute and 31.2% for a vocational school, compared to 55.0%, 28.6% and 16.4% of Italian nationals, respectively.