Off the wire
• Existing home sales rebound strongly in U.S.  • UN agencies warn of extreme food insecurity in South Sudan  • Roundup: UN announces end of Somalia's polio outbreak  • Nigeria calls for foreign, local investment on technology startups  • Greek media unions call 24-hour strike  • Oil prices rebound after plunge  • Urgent: U.S. stocks surge on Draghi's dovish comments  • Initial jobless claims on rise in U.S.  • UN agency warns four out of five Yemenis still in need of humanitarian assistance  • U.S., Pakistani leaders stress cooperation against terrorism  
You are here: 　 Home

Immigrants' contribution "essential" to Italian economy, welfare: report

Xinhua, October 23, 2015 Adjust font size:

The contribution of 2.3 million immigrants working in Italy is "essential" to the country's economy and welfare system, a report stated on Thursday.

Regular foreign workers contributed some 125 billion euros (about 139 billion U.S. dollars) in added value to the national wealth, or 8.6 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2014, the Foundation Leone Moressa said in the study.

The Venice-based research institute issues the "Italian Annual Report of Immigration Economy", regularly assessing the implications of the migrant population on the national economy.

In this latest edition, the institute highlighted the contribution of immigrants has become growingly crucial in terms of support to the Italian welfare, and the pension system especially.

Foreign workers in fact poured some 10.3 billion euros of social security contributions into the national system, which was equivalent to paying the pensions to some 620,000 elderly Italians, according to the researchers.

Such estimate came out by "dividing the total volume (of immigrants' social contributions) for the average pension income of retired people in Italy," the report explained.

Considering Italian pensioners amounted to some 15.6 million people in 2014, according to the Italian National Institute of Social Security (INPS), it would mean immigrants covered some 3.97 percent of the costs for all Italian pensions.

Such figures would be not be irrelevant to a country like Italy, which has the oldest population in the world together with Germany and Japan.

The demographic structure of the immigrant population in Italy would also impact positively on economy, since immigrants are mostly young, in the working age, and highly motivated, according to the report.

Indeed, some 5.3 million legal immigrants live in the country: the share of people over 75 is 0.9 percent among them, against 11.9 percent among Italians.

Immigrants overall declared incomes of 45.6 billion euros in 2014, and paid 6.8 billion euros net income taxes, the report added.

Comparing costs and benefits of the foreign presence in Italy, the difference between revenues in terms of taxes and expenses such as social benefits, public schools and healthcare showed a positive sign, namely "a 3.9 billion euro surplus for the state, per year".

Finally, the report stressed the immigration's impact on Italy's economy also depended on the dynamism of immigrants in doing business.

Over 524,600 firms run by immigrants in the country produced some 94.8 billion euros in value added in 2014.

The number of foreign-born entrepreneurs exceeded 632,000, increasing by 21.3 percent during the economic crisis between 2009 and 2014.

The number of Italian entrepreneurs decreased by 6.9 percent in the same period.

"Data show the immigration issue does not consist only of refugee arrivals and reception, but is also made of workers who are assimilated into the national fabric," the Foundation Moressa wrote.

"In this moment, the contribution of immigration to the country is essential," said the report. Endit