How Many Americans Live in Italy
Italy's American presence is old enough that the US-born far outnumber current US citizens: many became Italian along the way. New arrivals have shifted from students toward families and workers.
Italy's own records count 17,650 residents holding US citizenship (ISTAT · 2024) and 55,658 US-born residents (ISTAT · 2024). These are different measures of different populations, and they are not added together.
The American Emigration Revue counts US citizensPeople holding United States citizenship, as counted by Italy's own official records. A separate population from US-born residents; the two are never added. Definitions ›, US-born residentsPeople born in the United States living in Italy, whatever citizenship they hold today. A separate population from US citizens; the two are never added. Definitions ›, naturalizations and long-term permits from official government sources, with every figure cited. This page sets out what Italy publishes, what it does not, and how far the published record can be trusted.
Why Italy's Records, Not Washington's
The ContextThe context every page needs: who counts Americans abroad, and who doesn't.
The United States publishes no count of its own citizens abroad. Its best federal figure, 3.3 million Americans worldwide, is a statistical model built to size the overseas electorate, and the same model said 4.4 million two years earlier. The Census Bureau decided in 1976 to exclude private Americans abroad from the decennial enumeration (overseas federal employees and military are still counted). What Washington publishes instead is fragments: Social Security checks mailed to foreign addresses, tax returns claiming foreign income, quarterly lists of people who gave up their citizenship. See what each federal source actually counts ›
So this project counts from the receiving side. Every figure on this page comes from records Italy itself publishes, read under the same rules applied to every country in the project. Where Italy publishes, it is counted and cited. Where it does not, the gap is shown rather than filled: no estimates, no models. How openly each country reports ›
How Italy Counts Americans
The Two CountsOne "US presence," two official populations. None of them contradicts another; they answer different questions.
What the Research Found
The FindingsFindings from the Italy research, drawn from the official record.
- Initial residence permits issued to U.S. citizens declined overall since 2015, with significant fluctuations and a break in the time series.
- Migration patterns have shifted from education-led to family- and employment-based pathways.
- The resident U.S. population is large and relatively stable, with gradual growth over time.
- A substantial gap between U.S. citizens and U.S.-born residents indicates a large U.S.-origin population, including dual nationals and naturalized citizens.
- Citizenship acquisition among U.S. nationals has increased significantly in recent years.
The Record Over Time
The TrendYear-by-year totals across every available indicator — gaps reflect genuine data absence, not zero.
The Figures as Data
The EvidenceMachine-readable copy of the figures on this page, each with the year its source published it. Free to download and reuse with attribution.
| Figure | Value | Vintage | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|
| US citizens | 17,650 | 2024 | ISTAT |
| US-born residents | 55,658 | 2024 | ISTAT |
| US-citizen arrivals (2024) | 5,049 | 2024 | — |
| US-citizen arrivals (2025) | 6,858 | 2025 | — |
| Naturalizations of US citizens | 824 | 2024 | — |
| Long-term residence permits (2024) | 3,565 | 2024 | — |
| Long-term residence permits (2025) | 3,594 | 2025 | — |
Vintage is the year the publishing authority reported the figure. A dash means the year or publisher is not yet recorded in our dataset for that figure; the Sources and Datasets section below names every publisher behind this page. The free CSV covers the years shown to readers without an account.
Who They Are · Demographics
The PeopleAge structure and sex breakdown of the American diaspora in this country.
Source: Eurostat migr_pop1ctz · US citizens · 2025 — population on 1 January by age group, sex and citizenship, for citizens of the United States.
Pathways, Status & Geography
How Americans get here, what permits they hold, and where they settle within the country.
How Far to Trust These Figures
The Publishing RecordWhat Italy publishes, how often it publishes, and the sources behind every number on this page.
- Inflows
- Permits
- US-Born
- Citizens
- Naturalizations
The gaps: Published as a regular series: resident US citizens, US-born residents, annual arrivals, naturalizations, residence or work permits.
Every figure on this page comes from one of the publishers below. Links go to the authority and, where stable, straight to the dataset.
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick AnswersEvery answer is drawn from the official record, from the same sources cited across this page.
How many Americans live in Italy?
How many Americans move to Italy each year?
How many Americans become citizens of Italy?
Does Italy recognize dual citizenship with the United States?
Where do the figures for Americans in Italy come from?
News stories our newsroom has published about this country.
The full series, every year, every country
The public view shows a limited year window for each series. Researchers and journalists can request access to the complete annual record for every country in the project.