Italy grapples with nurse shortage and exodus of young graduates

Around 43,600 foreign‑trained nurses—one in five of the nursing workforce—are employed in Italy, a figure that has risen by an average of 9.4% per year over the past five years. About 18,000 arrived under pandemic‑era derogations introduced in 2020, coming mainly from South America (Paraguay, Peru, Argentina), Africa (Tunisia, Morocco), Asia (Uzbekistan, India, Pakistan) and Central‑Eastern Europe (Romania, Albania, Poland). Recruitment is carried out through university programmes, bilateral agreements such as the Magellano project, and private agencies, with a portion of nurses working under temporary exemptions that bypass registration with the professional order. The shortage remains acute, with an estimated 65,000 nursing posts unfilled; Italy’s nurse density (6.5 per 1,000 inhabitants) lags behind France (8.8) and Germany (12). The Ministry of Health has not established a single national archive to coordinate foreign recruitment.

A separate Istat report shows that between 2019 and 2025 the Italian Mezzogiorno lost roughly 150,000 university graduates aged 25‑34, most moving to the Centre‑North (122,000) or abroad (28,000). Internal migrations rose to 1.455 million in 2025, while emigration of Italian citizens fell and immigration of foreign nationals grew, keeping the overall migration balance positive but increasingly driven by non‑Italian residents. The loss of young talent deepens regional disparities and underscores ongoing challenges in Italy’s human‑capital pool.