Italy

Women

Italy ranks 14 out of 162 countries in the Gender Inequality Index, where a high rank equals high equality. Women should always be considered as a particularly vulnerable group though.

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Children

Italy has a Workplace Index score of 2.4, a Marketplace Index score of 3.0 and a Community and Environment Index score of 2.1 in the Children’s Rights and Business Atlas, where countries receive scores between 0 and 10. A score closer to 0 reflects a need for basic children’s rights due diligence, while a higher score reflects a need for enhanced or heightened due diligence. Children should always be considered as a particularly vulnerable group though. 

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Persons with Disabilities

Due to differences in data collection and definitions it is difficult to compare countries on disability prevalence rates. Persons with disabilities should always be considered as a particularly vulnerable group though.

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Minorities and Indigenous Peoples

According to the World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples, linguistic minorities in Italy include Sardu-speakers, Tyrolese German-speakers, Albanians, Slovenes, Franco-Provençal-speakers, Occitans, Ladins, Catalans, Greek-speakers, Croatians and Friulians. The Roma community is one of the largest ethnic minorities in the country. Due to the lack of disaggregated data the size of the community remains uncertain, with Council of Europe estimates at 120,000-180,000. A significant proportion do not have Italian citizenship. There is also a growing foreign population, including Romanians, Albanians, Moroccans, Ukrainians, Chinese, Philippinos and Indians. Italy has historically been an overwhelmingly Catholic country, but this is changing as significant numbers of Italians self-identify as non-practising or atheists. Among Italian citizens, 3.5 % are estimated to belong to religious minorities, including a range of Christian denominations (Protestants, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Orthodox and smaller groups), as well as Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, Sikhs, Bahá’í and others. However, these figures do not include Italy’s growing immigrant population, a large proportion of whom adhere to non-Catholic religious beliefs. When the immigration population is also factored in, the proportion of religious minorities in Italy rises to 9.7 %.

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Migrant Workers​

According to the ILO Global Estimates on International Migrant Workers, migrant workers as a proportion of all workers is 18.4 % in the subregion Northern, Southern and Western Europe.

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Persons in Armed Conflict

Italy ranks 141 out of 179 countries in the Fragile States Index, where a high rank equals high fragility. For monthly crisis updates, check out CrisisWatch.