The province of Cagliari on the national podium for the quality of public services. This is what we read in the 58th edition of the Censis report on the social situation in Italy , released today.

THIRD PLACE – The capital and its metropolitan city are mentioned in particular in the chapter on “The quality of public services in Italian provinces” , where we read: «The process of renewing the quality of public services passes through evaluation, a tool capable of identifying and orienting political and administrative decisions. And, according to the Agenda 2030 Index developed by Censis to evaluate the quality of public services in Italian provinces (fight against poverty, health, education, mobility, water services, gender equality and justice) , among the metropolitan cities, Florence ranks first (116.9 points), followed by Bologna (114.3) and Cagliari , third with an index of 113.8.

DEPOPULATION – Much of the report is also dedicated to internal areas and depopulation , a phenomenon that has characterized the regions of Southern Italy and Sardinia in particular for years. «In the internal areas of the country – the report states – 13.3 million people now live, more than one in five Italians (22.6%). This is approximately 800,000 fewer than in 2014: in a decade the reduction was 5.0%, more than the national average (-2.2%) . The seriousness of the depopulation of these territories is highlighted by demographic projections. In ten years, while the overall Italian population will suffer a reduction of 1.4%, the internal areas will see their population reduce by 3.8%. In twenty years, the demographic decline of the internal areas will touch 9 percentage points , bringing the resident population to 12.2 million. In the 2021-2027 programming, the National Internal Areas Strategy has expanded its scope of action, involving 1,904 municipalities and a population of almost 4.6 million inhabitants".

WORK AND FOREIGNERS – Still on the subject of depopulation, the Censis report continues, «small and peripheral municipalities must say thank you to foreign citizens . There are 3,833 municipalities in internal areas, where 22.6% of the Italian population resides, where depopulation is increasingly serious. Between 2014 and 2023, residents decreased by 4.6%, much more than the average reduction in the national population (-2.2%). But the trend is the result of two divergent tendencies: -5.4% of Italians in the decade and +7.3% of foreigners . Of the more than 13 million people who reside in municipalities in internal areas, 53.6% live in the southern regions and on the islands. Here, the overall population has decreased by 5.9% in the last decade : -6.7% of Italians, but +17.1% of foreigners».

On the other hand, however, Sardinia is one of the regions where there are fewer foreign workers: "The majority of foreign workers - underlines Censis - are concentrated in the North and Central Italy, while in the South and on the islands Italian workers prevail (about 99,000 against 82,000 foreigners)".

“FLOATING” COUNTRY – The overall picture of Italy that emerges from the Censis 2024 report is that of a “country that is not growing, but floating” . A “floating syndrome”, which mainly affects a “weakened” middle class with real incomes that have fallen by 7% in 20 years and with per capita wealth that has decreased by 5.5%.

SAVINGS IN DECREASE – «45.7% of families – the Censis survey highlights – declare increased consumption during 2024 compared to the previous year, but for 54.6% savings have decreased , 36.3% are in a similar situation to that of the previous year and only the remaining 9.1% have increased the amount of savings». In short, the conclusion, «the inequalities between families are evident. 79.5% of families with a low socio-economic level report a contraction in savings and only 1.4% have seen an increase, against 40.1% and 16.7% of families at a medium-high level respectively».

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