Italy ranks second in the top of the EU immigration destinations, after Germany and on the same level with Spain. Italy had at the end of 2006 some 3.7 million foreigners legally staying in the country, mainly employed of looking for jobs, the National Labor Force Agency (ANOFM) informs, quoting the "Immigration 2007 report.
Romania leads in the number of immigrants residing in Italy, with 566,000 persons, and is also the first in sending home money, with 777 million euros. Unfortunately, Romanians in Italy also lead in criminality rate.
Speaking of the annual growth, Italy and Spain have no match in Europe, surpassing even the United States. The US, although have a population over five times larger than Italy, received one million immigrants in 2006, while Italy had over 700,000 new immigrants, a 21.6% growth of foreign population compared to 2005.
92.1% of the immigrants, according to the report, are in Italy to work or to reunite the family.
