In 2023, the right of blood — or blood law — boosted the Italian citizenship to a new milestone, with approximately 190 thousand new recognitions.
This form of recognition has largely surpassed traditional means of recognition. Italian citizenship, such as residence and marriage, showing the growing connection between Italian descendants around the world and their roots.
Recognitions by ius sanguinis and Istat estimates
Although the total number of citizens recognized by “blood” is not fully documented, the newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore published an estimate on Monday (28) indicating that around 100 of these recognitions were carried out by Italian courts and municipalities in 2023.
According to the Italian National Institute of Statistics (Istat), the estimate is based on data provided by National Association of Civil Status and Registry Officers (Anusca), responsible for this year's research.
Participation of Italian municipalities
Of the 7.901 Italian municipalities, 5.019 contributed to the survey, representing 63,5% of the total. Based on this data, more than 61 people obtained the Italian citizenship by blood right in 2023.
Istat believes that the number could exceed 100 if municipalities that did not participate in the survey are taken into account, well above the 26 citizens registered by similar registries in Italy.
Exponential growth in Italian consulates abroad
Italian consulates abroad have also recorded a significant increase in citizenship processes, which, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, have grown exponentially in the last decade.
In 2022, 89.791 citizenship certificates were issued by jus sanguinis, a 28% jump from the 70.073 in 2021.
With continued growth, projections for 2023 indicate that the numbers could exceed 190 recognitions, prompting Istat to begin mandatory data collection in all municipalities next year to understand the scope of this phenomenon.
Expansion of citizenship through naturalization and regularization of immigrants
In addition to the increase in recognitions by descent, acquisitions of citizenship among non-EU citizens residing in Italy also remained high.
Excluding the processes of jus sanguinis, the number of new citizenships by residence in 2023 was 169.689, a stable value compared to the previous year, but which reflects a significant increase compared to previous years (127.603 in 2017 and 94.557 in 2018).
The numbers are partly explained by recent Italian sanctions for the regularization of immigrants, such as the 2009 measure aimed at domestic workers.
Based on this sanction, many residents completed the required residency time to apply for citizenship, resulting in approximately 80 new naturalizations annually in 2022 and 2023.
Citizenship for minors, by marriage and other factors
In 2023, more than 59 thousand minors obtained the Italian citizenship through transmission from their parents, which, together with acquisitions through residence, represents almost 70% of the total number of new citizenships registered.
Acquisitions by marriage were also significant, with 22.330 concessions last year, an increase compared to the 17 in 2022. The number of acquisitions by marriage also increased. naturalization by election, aimed at foreigners born in Italy who have reached the age of majority, with almost 11 thousand concessions in 2023.
Geographic distribution
By the end of 2023, there were approximately 1,625 million citizens of non-EU origin in Italy, representing 85% of regular foreigners.
Of these new citizens, more than 26% live in the Lombardy region.
The highlight goes to Argentine citizens, who quadrupled their acquisitions by descent from less than 4 thousand in 2021 to more than 16 thousand in 2023.
There was also an increase in acquisitions among Egyptians, predominantly by minors and by residence, in addition to Ukrainian women, who represent 36% of citizenships by marriage in 2023.
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