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Rabat – Moroccans ranked first among foreign business owners in Italy, new data from the Italian Observatory Infocamere said on Thursday.
Moroccans dominated the figures of companies created by foreign communities in Italy, with 12.1%, followed by Romania, China, Albania, and Bangladesh.
Moroccans also top the number of non-European populations with residence permits.
The statistics show that 400,000 people from Morocco have residence permits in Italy, followed by Albanians and Ukrainians.
The statistics showed an overall increase in the number of non-European citizens holding regular residence permits in Italy in 2022.
As of January 1, 2023, the number of people holding regular residence permits in Italy totalled over 3.7 million, representing a 4.7% increase compared to the previous year.
Data from last year also shows that Morocco ranked third on the list of the top 10 receivers of residence permits in Italy in 2022.
Last year, the Italian National Institute of Statistics said that “for every 100 resident foreigners, there are respectively 52 new citizens of Albanian origin and 44 of Moroccan origin.”
The statistics provider emphasized that for all the top 10 foreign communities in the country, the main reason for entering Italy is family reunification, which accounted for over 73% of Moroccan entries in 2021.
Eurostat, a directorate general of the European Commission, said earlier this year in March, that Moroccans are among the main recipients of EU Member State citizenship.
The statistics showed that 86,200 Morocans acquired citizenship from EU Member States in 2021. About 7% of the granted citizenships came from France and Spain.
