Foreign nationals now account for nearly half of all inmates in Italy’s juvenile detention centers and one third of the country’s total prison population, according to Ministry of Justice data compiled in the latest Antigone report.

As of the end of March 2025, 49.9 percent of juveniles held in Italian youth facilities were foreigners. Among adults, foreigners made up 32 percent of the total prison population as of Oct. 31, 2025 — more than triple their share of the resident population.

The data was reviewed by Italian journalist Francesca Totolo, who said the findings were “essential for predicting future security issues in Italy and for demonstrating the urgency of remigration.”

⚠️ Quasi il 50% dei detenuti nelle carceri minorili italiane è straniero

Questi dati sono fondamentali per prevedere le future problematicità sulla sicurezza in Italia e per dimostrare l’urgenza della Remigrazione. https://t.co/6MIo7wGlvX

— Francesca Totolo (@fratotolo2) November 14, 2025

The Antigone report, an organization that analyzes the state of Italy’s penal system, noted that 5.3 million foreign nationals currently reside in the country — equal to around 9 percent of the population. Yet within the prison system, this cohort is vastly disproportionately represented, particularly when it comes to criminal youths.

The figures highlight a marked demographic imbalance that has reshaped Italy’s overcrowded prison system. A total of 40 prisons across the country now house a majority of foreign inmates, including institutions in Sondrio, Trieste, Bolzano, Milan’s San Vittore, Padua, Florence’s Sollicciano, Verona, Modena, Cuneo, and Ravenna. In several facilities, foreign nationals constitute over 70 percent of all detainees.

The disparity is also visible in the types of offenses committed. As of the end of 2024, foreigners accounted for 32 percent of inmates convicted of crimes against the person — such as assault and robbery — and 29 percent of those convicted of crimes against property. In gender-based violence, the imbalance was even sharper. Foreign nationals made up 41 percent of detainees for sexual violence, 29 percent for assault, 27 percent for domestic violence, and 83 percent for trafficking and exploitation offenses.

Foreigners are heavily represented among those serving short and medium-term sentences: 45.5 percent of all sentences under one year, 42.6 percent between one and two years, 40.7 percent between two and three, and 37 percent between three and five. Their share decreases substantially as sentences lengthen, falling to 20.8 percent for sentences of 10 to 20 years, 12.2 percent for sentences over 20 years, and 7.6 percent of all life sentences. This suggests one of two things: either greater judicial leniency or a concentration of foreign offenders in a lower-level epidemic of socially disruptive crimes such as burglary, pickpocketing, robbery, and minor assaults.

Italy’s shifting demographic profile provides further context. Between 2011 and 2023, the number of foreign residents grew primarily among Asian and Middle Eastern communities, increasing by 23 percent, followed by Africans. Central and Eastern European residents declined by 6.5 percent over the same period. Romanians remain Italy’s largest foreign community, followed by Albanians, Moroccans, Chinese, and Ukrainians, with significant numbers also arriving from Bangladesh, India, the Philippines, Egypt, Pakistan, and Senegal.

Moroccan and Tunisian inmates have increased in recent times. Moroccans accounted for 21.5 percent of foreign inmates in 2024, up from 20.9 percent the previous year. Tunisians rose from 10.3 percent to 10.8 percent.

Age profiles highlight another divide. The foreign prison population is markedly younger than the Italian one. While Italians are concentrated in older brackets — nearly a quarter are aged 50 to 59 — foreign inmates are most often between 30 and 34, followed closely by those aged 35 to 39 and 25 to 29.

Italy considers early release for over 10,000 prisoners to ease prison overcrowding

In July, the Italian government was weighing the early release of more than 10,000 prisoners as a response to severe overcrowding, with Justice Minister Carlo Nordio launching a task force to address a long-standing failure to apply existing legal provisions that allow certain prisoners to serve the remainder of their sentences outside prison.

These provisions apply to inmates with less than 24 months left to serve, convicted of non-violent offenses, and who have maintained good behavior while incarcerated.

“There are 10,105 inmates who, by law, could be serving their remaining sentence outside prison,” Nordio said in a statement.

Based on this report, such an early-release policy would disproportionately favor the foreign prison population, who are typically serving lighter sentences on average.