Overview
- CNEL calculates that 630,000 Italians aged 18–34 emigrated from 2011 to 2024, including 78,000 in 2024, for a net youth balance of −441,000 and an estimated €159.5 billion loss equal to about 7.5% of GDP.
- Italy attracts few young people from other advanced economies, with roughly one arrival for every nine departures and only 1.9% choosing Italy; the top destinations for Italians are the UK, Germany, Switzerland, France and Spain.
- Internal south‑to‑north migration moved 484,000 young people between 2011 and 2024, shifting an estimated €147 billion in human capital to regions such as Lombardy and Emilia‑Romagna.
- Censis reports real household wealth down 8.5% since 2011 and a marked “senilization” of employment, as 84.5% of 2023–24 job gains went to over‑50s while under‑35 employment declined.
- Industrial output remains weak through 2025 except for a 31% jump in weapons production, and surveys show about 30% viewing autocracies as better suited to today’s times, roughly two‑thirds rejecting welfare cuts to fund rearmament, and around 63% favoring limits on immigration.