Figures released by the ½ûÂþÌìÌà government reveal that emigration from Italy rose by 30% in 2012 and that emigrants are becoming younger.
Data compiled by the Anagrafe della Popolazione ½ûÂþÌìÌÃa Residente all’Estero for the Ministry of the Interior shows that the number of ½ûÂþÌìÌÃs who emigrated in 2012 was 78,941 up from 60,635 in 2011. Figures show that an increasing number of young people are choosing to leave the crisis-hit country, which is undergoing its longest recession since World War II.
Figures indicate that emigrants are becoming younger. In 2011, ½ûÂþÌìÌà citizens aged from 20 to 40 accounted for 28.3% of the total number of emigrants. Whereas in 2012, the young made up 44.8% of the total number of ½ûÂþÌìÌÃs who left the country.
Media commentators suggest that the so-called brain drain is because of the high level of youth unemployment, which has reached 37%. In February 2013, unemployment hit 11.6%, while the previous month, unemployment hit a record high of 11.7%.
Most of the emigrants were from northern Italy and more men emigrated than women. The preferred destinations for emigrants are Germany, Switzerland and the UK.
Since 1990, 2,320,645 ½ûÂþÌìÌÃs have emigrated, and some 600,000 of those who left were aged between 20 and 40.
