Bangladeshis in Italy


is form one of the largest immigrant populations in Italy. As of 2016, there were more than 100,000 Bangladeshis living in Italy. Most of the Bangladeshis in Italy are based in the regions of Lazio, Lombardy and Veneto with the largest concentrations in the cities of Rome, Milan and Venice.

History

Bangladeshis first started immigrating to Italy in the 1980s. Between late 1989 and mid-1990 the number of Bangladeshis living in Rome increased from 200-300 by an estimated twenty-fold to become the largest Bangladeshi community in continental Europe. Subsequently, the population doubled in size, mainly through undocumented migration, to an estimated 82,000 people as of 1995.

Demography

Most of the Bangladeshis in Italy hail from the districts of Shariatpur | Madaripur and Noakhali District. 71.6% of them are male. 59% of the Bangladeshi population is employed – a figure two percentage points higher than that recorded for the non-EU nationals in the country. The Bangladeshi community in Italy has an unemployment rate of 11%, slightly lower than the whole of non-EU nationals. The service sector absorbs over 70% of the workers belonging to the community. The percentage of Bangladeshis employed in industry is 22%. About 33% of Bangladeshis employed earn a monthly income below €800. Preponderant is the income class between €800 and €1,200, accounting for 48% of the community's employed.