TIRANA, June 5 ATA/ -Most foreign business owners – 81 percent – come from outside the EU, with China, Romania and Albania the top three countries of origin.
“Non-Italians make up almost 15 percent of all business owners in Italy, an increase of nearly a third since 2010. There are some 447,000 foreign entrepreneurs in Italy,” according to research released on Monday by social studies institute Censis.
“The number rose by 31.7 percent between 2010 and 2018, the study found, with non-Italians now making up 14.6 percent of all business owners in Italy. Over the same period, the number of Italian-born business owners fell by 12.2 percent. Many immigrants bought up failing Italian firms at bargain prices during Italy’s recession,” the business groups have told The Local.
“That’s not the only difference between the two groups. Foreigners who own businesses in Italy tend to be younger – just over 71 percent are under 50, compared to 44 percent among their Italian counterparts – and 23 percent are women, slightly higher than the national total of 21.86 percent counted at the end of 2017,” the research suggests.
Despite Italy’s reputation for red tape and other obstacles, more than three-quarters of foreign entrepreneurs were happy at least in part with how their business was going, with 55 percent saying they were partially satisfied and 21 percent entirely satisfied. //a.i/
