Recent Immigration from Serbia to Italy: The Beginning of a New Tradition?

Reynaud, Cecilia and Nikitović, Vladimir and Tucci, Enrico (2017) Recent Immigration from Serbia to Italy: The Beginning of a New Tradition? In: La population des Balkans à l’aube du XXième siecle / The population of the Balkans at the dawn of the 21st century. Institut économique Université Saints-Cyrille-et-Méthode de Skopje / Institute of Economics, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, Skopje, pp. 205-220. ISBN 978-608-4519-19-5

Text VNikitovic_The_Population_of_the_Balkans.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives. Download (331kB)

Abstract

Since the mid-1960s, Serbian citizens residing abroad were typically guest workers in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and France. At the beginning of the 21st century, Italy joined this group almost unexpectedly, becoming the fourth most popular migrant destination for Serbian citizens. It is usually a very good idea to compare sources from both sides – immigrant and emigrant ‒ in order to get as reliable picture as possible on the size and, most important, the structure of citizens residing outside the country. By interpreting the results from methodologically different sources of migration data (Serbian and Italian census, Italian population register and immigration flow statistics), we want to provide a deeper insight into the phenomenon of Serbian immigrants in Italy trying to realize if (and how much) this new group of immigrants differs from the traditional ones originating from Serbia and also how specific it is comparing to other new immigrant groups in Italy. It seems reasonable to expect that Italy will remain a very important destination in the next decades. Serbian nationals immigrating to Italy generally lag behind their compatriots leaving for other new destinations (USA, Canada, United Kingdom) in terms of education level, being closer to those residing in traditional countries of Serbian immigrants (Austria, Germany, France). The increasing percentage of female immigrants from Serbia to Italy points to one of the most important Italian pull factors – the population ageing, and the need for domestic female workers while the economic crisis reduces the demand for jobs in several sectors where males are mainly employed (e.g. construction sector) and increases the labour market competition with native workers. Considering the geographical proximity (the majority of Serbian citizens are concentrated in the Northeast of Italy), Italy and Serbia will probably strengthen their connection and will experience the increase of new typologies of migration, such as circular migration.

Actions (login required)

View Item