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Italians move abroad for jobs

One out of three Italians - and especially young people - have said they would leave Italy in search of employment, according to a new study.

In a recent report on emigration, the social research institute Eurispes said that of the Italians who are now living abroad, more than half (56%) are from southern Italy where are unemployment levels are significantly higher than the national average.

Based on figures released by the Interior Ministry in 2005, Eurispes found that 57.7% of Italian emigrants have remained in Europe, with 43% having chosen another European Union country.

The most popular countries among Italians considering living abroad were Spain, France and Britain.  But in terms of Italians who had taken the plunge and emigrated already, Germany topped the list with the highest number of Italian immigrants.  The next largest Italian expatriate populations were found in Argentina, Switzerland and France respectively.

This new Eurispes report builds on the findings of a study it published last month which showed that 37.8% of Italians would be prepared to emigrate.  Among this group there were disproportionately high numbers of women and younger people.

However, the same earlier report also concluded that most Italians are happy to stay put.  Results indicated that more than 75% of Italians were happy to live in Italy, with 67% considering themselves lucky to live there.