Reference metadata describe statistical concepts and methodologies used for the collection and generation of data. They provide information on data quality and, since they are strongly content-oriented, assist users in interpreting the data. Reference metadata, unlike structural metadata, can be decoupled from the data.
Ministry of the Interior, Piazza del Viminale, 1, 00184 Rome, Italy
1.6. Contact email address
Confidential because of GDPR
1.7. Contact phone number
Confidential because of GDPR
1.8. Contact fax number
Confidential because of GDPR
2.1. Metadata last certified
15 July 2024
2.2. Metadata last posted
15 July 2024
2.3. Metadata last update
15 September 2025
3.1. Data description
Data collection on asylum statistics contains statistical information based on the Article 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3 of Regulation (EC) No 862/2007 on Community statistics on migration and international protection.
Asylum applications:
Asylum, first time and subsequent applicants by citizenship, age and sex (also for unaccompanied minors);
Persons subject of asylum applications pending at the end of month by citizenship, age and sex (also for unaccompanied minors);
Asylum applications withdrawn by citizenship, age, sex and type of withdrawal (also for unaccompanied minors);
Asylum applicants having had their applications processed under the accelerated procedure by citizenship, age and sex (also for unaccompanied minors);
Applicants having benefited from material reception conditions at the end of the reference year;
Asylum applicants considered to be unaccompanied minors by citizenship, age and sex.
Decisions on asylum applications:
First instance decisions on applications by citizenship, age, sex and type of decision (also for unaccompanied minors);
Decisions withdrawing status granted at first instance decision by citizenship, type of decision and type of reason (also for unaccompanied minors);
Final decisions in appeal or review on applications by citizenship, age, sex and type of decision (also for unaccompanied minors);
Decisions withdrawing status granted as final decision in appeal or review by citizenship, type of decision and type of reason (also for unaccompanied minors).
Resettled persons:
Resettled persons by citizenship, age and sex (also for unaccompanied minors);
Resettled persons by citizenship, age, sex and country of previous residence;
Resettled persons by citizenship, age, sex and type of decision;
Resettled persons by citizenship, age, sex and resettlement framework.
In March 2022, the European Commission activated the Temporary Protection Directive 2001/55/EC for people from Ukraine seeking refuge.
Temporary protection:
Decisions granting temporary protection by citizenship, age and sex (also for unaccompanied minors);
Beneficiaries of temporary protection at the end of the month by citizenship, age and sex (also for unaccompanied minors).
3.2. Classification system
Same as Eurostat.
See table 3.2. in annex ‘Quality report tables Asylum’.
3.3. Coverage - sector
Migration and asylum – Asylum statistics.
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
Same definitions as Eurostat, except resettled persons.
Among the resettled persons, Italy includes national humanitarian schemes and the evacuation of refugees and asylum seekers habitually resident in a transit country after having fled their countries due to war or violence and entering Italy to seek protection.
See table 3.4. in annex ‘Quality report tables Asylum’.
3.5. Statistical unit
Persons.
3.6. Statistical population
Third-country nationals and stateless persons.
See table 3.6. in annex ‘Quality report tables Asylum’.
3.7. Reference area
Italy
3.8. Coverage - Time
Time coverage according to Regulation (EC) No 862/2007, from January 2008, eventually January 2021.
See table 3.8. in annex ‘Quality report tables Asylum’.
3.9. Base period
Not applicable.
Number of persons.
Calendar month, calendar quarter and calendar year.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
The Ministry of Interior is the only authority responsible by law for the asylum procedure by law 286/25 July 28 and subsequent modifications.
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing
See point 6.1
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
EU and national statistics institute regulations are followed.
External users cannot access micro-data for research purposes, and, if so, confidentiality provisions are applied.
Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation).
National statistics institute regulation and (EU) reg. 2017/Privacy e trattamento dei dati personali (Privacy – Istat).
The annual data are published in March for previous year. Ad hoc requests could be sent to the national commission for asylum. Publication on the website of the Ministry of Interior Dati e statistiche | Ministero dell‘Interno.
Regular controls of data consistency and data cleansing. The data consistency is done on restricted inputs and severity of inconsistency; incompleteness; accuracy; precision; missing / unknown data.
Quality management of asylum data is part of quality management of the system of Istat (National Institute for statistics). ASYLUM statistics data processing is documented by several description schemes and procedures.
Quality management system used is ISO-benchmarking, quality reviews, self-assessments, compliance monitoring etc.
The reference terms for the assessment of quality compliance are provided by Eurostat in the ASYLUM statistics technical guidelines applied for the reference period.
11.2. Quality management - assessment
Good.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
The statistics collected under Regulation 862/2007 are used by a wide range of users at national, European and International level to cover the diversity of users' needs.
Users of Asylum statistics:
Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Commission, for producing the official European Union statistics on Asylum;
EASO;
DG HOME AFFAIRS for designing, funding and implementing asylum related policies in the EU Parliament;
National authorities: Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Foreign affairs, Ministry of Justice;
The European Migration Network (EMN) which uses the Asylum data as a basis for its annual statistical and analytical reports at EU and at national level;
Researchers and students conducting analysis and research in the field of asylum;
Journalists and international organisations in the area of asylum and migration.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
No information.
12.3. Completeness
The type of withdrawal is missing for withdrawals of asylum applications from January to December 2021 (derogation).
Data on resettled persons have 75-85% of data without type of decision in 2021-2024 (persons arrived in Italy via the "Humanitarian Corridors” who are awaiting a decision on international protection in Italy).
See table 12.3. in annex ‘Quality report tables Asylum’.
12.3.1. Data completeness - rate
Not applicable.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
The accuracy of the national Asylum statistics, at dataset level, is considered high for all requested tables.
13.2. Sampling error
Not applicable.
13.2.1. Sampling error - indicators
Not applicable.
13.3. Non-sampling error
In relation to table A21, Italy cannot exclude resettled persons from this table. Unaccompanied minors are included only in a very limited number. Because the majority of centers for minors are managed by municipalities and it is not possible to contact all of the 7 901 centers to get the exact number of asylum seekers and refugees hosted there. No national data are available on unaccompanied minor asylum seekers and refugees in reception.
13.3.1. Coverage error
Table A16. Resettled persons by age, sex and citizenship: Italy includes refugees / asylum seekers arrived in Italy via the "Humanitarian Corridors" from TC. They will be considered "applicants" at their arrival. The majority of them will receive Refugees status at the end of the procedure. Few of them will receive Subsidiary protection.
The National Resettlement Programme implemented by the Italian Ministry of Interior, Department for civil liberties and immigration according to the commitments made in the JHA Council conclusions of 20 July 2015. The EU Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) fund the program. The program relies on UNHCR dossiers to identify beneficiaries already recognised as refugees.
The Humanitarian Corridors is a private sponsorship program implemented by the Community of Sant'Egidio, Evangelic Churches Federation in Italy and the Waldensian Church in Italy in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Therefore, as far as humanitarian corridors are concerned, they have been reported as "other resettlement Framework". In such cases, the protection status granted to such persons is reported as “Unknown”, because scheme persons will undergo a refugee status determination procedure upon their arrival in Italy.
With regards to evacuation from Libya, while we do see some similarities between this procedure and humanitarian admission, it also appears that the evacuees do not receive a humanitarian visa before traveling and do not fall in the above definition of humanitarian corridor. Based on these two elements, we understand that the evacuation procedure is not nationally recognized as a humanitarian admission program. If so, then indeed such cases should not be reported included in the resettlement data.
Average lag (in days) of registering the following administrative events to the register/database from the day these events took place:
The event of the expression of intention of the applicant to apply for international protection is manually registered. Italy is working to include this data in the database related to asylum application. A new database is the inception phase.
The event of the lodging of an application for international protection: 10 days.
The event of an issued first instance decision by the relevant first instance authorities: no lag.
The event of an issued final instance decision by the relevant final instance authority: it depends on the local tribunal workload.
13.3.1.1. Over-coverage - rate
100% of the target population for all tables.
Partial double counting between asylum applicants (tables A01 and A 18) and resettled (A16).
13.3.1.2. Common units - proportion
Not applicable.
13.3.2. Measurement error
See concept 13.3.4 Processing Error.
13.3.3. Non response error
Not applicable.
13.3.3.1. Unit non-response - rate
Not applicable.
13.3.3.2. Item non-response - rate
Not applicable.
13.3.4. Processing error
Potential errors:
Reported variable (age, sex, citizenship, status withdrawn) erroneously processed (classified or edited) in the first place.
Revisions in a variable are recorded with delays.
Data on final decision are collected from the local tribunals and then notified to the territorial commission that will insert the data in the database (delay in the registration, merging data may be a source of error).
13.3.5. Model assumption error
Not applicable.
14.1. Timeliness
Number of days (on average) after the end of the reference period at which the country is able to report the first/preliminary Asylum data, at the earliest:
Asylum applicants by citizenship, age and sex - monthly data -> 15 days;
First time asylum applicants by citizenship, age and sex - monthly data -> 15 days;
Persons subject of asylum applications pending at the end of the month by citizenship, age and sex - monthly data -> 15 days;
Asylum applications withdrawn by citizenship, age and sex - monthly data -> 30 days;
First instance decisions on applications by citizenship, age and sex - quarterly data ->15 days;
Decisions withdrawing status granted at first instance decision by type of status withdrawn and by citizenship - quarterly data ->30 days;
Final decisions on applications by citizenship, age and sex - annual data ->90 days;
Decisions withdrawing status granted as final decision by type of status withdrawn - annual data ->90 days;
Resettled persons by age, sex and citizenship - annual data ->15 days.
Final result:
90 days for all monthly, quarterly and annual asylum tables;
30 days for temporary protection tables.
14.1.1. Time lag - first result
Not applicable.
14.1.2. Time lag - final result
Not applicable.
14.2. Punctuality
Data are delivered on time.
See table 14.2. in annex ‘Quality report tables Asylum’.
14.2.1. Punctuality - delivery and publication
Not applicable.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
Statistics are comparable between geographical areas in Italy.
15.1.1. Asymmetry for mirror flow statistics - coefficient
Not applicable.
15.2. Comparability - over time
Data are comparable over time, except withdrawals of asylum applications.
Data on withdrawals of asylum applications have break in time series due to national revisions in January 2025.
See table 15.2. in annex ‘Quality report tables Asylum’.
15.2.1. Length of comparable time series
Not applicable.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
No differences.
15.3.1. Coherence - sub annual and annual statistics
For asylum applications, monthly data on unaccompanied minors (e.g. tables A01, A02, A18) are coherent in relation to the annual statistics on asylum applicants considered to be unaccompanied minors (table A10).
The age used for each dataset (monthly versus annual) is declared for monthly and assessed for annual.
The monthly statistics may overestimate the final number of Unaccompanied Minors by around 2%.
15.3.2. Coherence - National Accounts
Not applicable.
15.4. Coherence - internal
The data on final decisions are collected in the same database but the information is sent with a big delay by tribunals of the country.
The data may not fully encompass all final decisions.
Not available.
17.1. Data revision - policy
No national revision policy. Data revision is on demand.
17.2. Data revision - practice
Data are checked monthly, and revisions are provided if necessary.
The revisions are planned annually or when necessary.
Main reasons for revisions: May occur in case of new legislations, new methods of counting.
See table 17.2. in annex ‘Quality report tables Asylum’.
17.2.1. Data revision - average size
Not applicable.
18.1. Source data
Administrative data of Ministry of Interior.
See table 18.1. in annex ‘Quality report tables Asylum’.
18.2. Frequency of data collection
Data on asylum are collected daily.
18.3. Data collection
The data is based on an administrative data process: the individual data records concerning the application, grant or decision, are registered within 1 to 2 days in EURODAC and VESTANET (the registration system is responsible for the asylum procedures). The asylum tables are extracted based on the Eurostat technical guidelines.
An applicant may lodge an application at border or in a save and rescue ship.
He/she is first fingerprinted for illegal entry on the same day.
By 3 days the application is registered at the immigration office.
By 10 days the application is registered in the database by the immigration police after the security/identification checks and give an appointment to the interview.
At the same moment the territorial commissions for asylum receive all the application and documentation and start to prepare the interview, book an interpreter, etc.
All the relevant information on the asylum procedure is registered in the same database and all relevant stakeholders have a direct access.
The data are extracted from national asylum system in the current Eurostat-standard templates (csv format). Automated electronic extraction.
18.4. Data validation
Weekly check for double counting and correction of errors, if any.
Monthly checks and revisions if necessary.
18.5. Data compilation
The operations performed on data to derive new information according to a given set of rules is decided case by case.
Data collection on asylum statistics contains statistical information based on the Article 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3 of Regulation (EC) No 862/2007 on Community statistics on migration and international protection.
Asylum applications:
Asylum, first time and subsequent applicants by citizenship, age and sex (also for unaccompanied minors);
Persons subject of asylum applications pending at the end of month by citizenship, age and sex (also for unaccompanied minors);
Asylum applications withdrawn by citizenship, age, sex and type of withdrawal (also for unaccompanied minors);
Asylum applicants having had their applications processed under the accelerated procedure by citizenship, age and sex (also for unaccompanied minors);
Applicants having benefited from material reception conditions at the end of the reference year;
Asylum applicants considered to be unaccompanied minors by citizenship, age and sex.
Decisions on asylum applications:
First instance decisions on applications by citizenship, age, sex and type of decision (also for unaccompanied minors);
Decisions withdrawing status granted at first instance decision by citizenship, type of decision and type of reason (also for unaccompanied minors);
Final decisions in appeal or review on applications by citizenship, age, sex and type of decision (also for unaccompanied minors);
Decisions withdrawing status granted as final decision in appeal or review by citizenship, type of decision and type of reason (also for unaccompanied minors).
Resettled persons:
Resettled persons by citizenship, age and sex (also for unaccompanied minors);
Resettled persons by citizenship, age, sex and country of previous residence;
Resettled persons by citizenship, age, sex and type of decision;
Resettled persons by citizenship, age, sex and resettlement framework.
In March 2022, the European Commission activated the Temporary Protection Directive 2001/55/EC for people from Ukraine seeking refuge.
Temporary protection:
Decisions granting temporary protection by citizenship, age and sex (also for unaccompanied minors);
Beneficiaries of temporary protection at the end of the month by citizenship, age and sex (also for unaccompanied minors).
15 September 2025
Same definitions as Eurostat, except resettled persons.
Among the resettled persons, Italy includes national humanitarian schemes and the evacuation of refugees and asylum seekers habitually resident in a transit country after having fled their countries due to war or violence and entering Italy to seek protection.
See table 3.4. in annex ‘Quality report tables Asylum’.
Persons.
Third-country nationals and stateless persons.
See table 3.6. in annex ‘Quality report tables Asylum’.
Italy
Calendar month, calendar quarter and calendar year.
The accuracy of the national Asylum statistics, at dataset level, is considered high for all requested tables.
Number of persons.
The operations performed on data to derive new information according to a given set of rules is decided case by case.
Administrative data of Ministry of Interior.
See table 18.1. in annex ‘Quality report tables Asylum’.
Number of days (on average) after the end of the reference period at which the country is able to report the first/preliminary Asylum data, at the earliest:
Asylum applicants by citizenship, age and sex - monthly data -> 15 days;
First time asylum applicants by citizenship, age and sex - monthly data -> 15 days;
Persons subject of asylum applications pending at the end of the month by citizenship, age and sex - monthly data -> 15 days;
Asylum applications withdrawn by citizenship, age and sex - monthly data -> 30 days;
First instance decisions on applications by citizenship, age and sex - quarterly data ->15 days;
Decisions withdrawing status granted at first instance decision by type of status withdrawn and by citizenship - quarterly data ->30 days;
Final decisions on applications by citizenship, age and sex - annual data ->90 days;
Decisions withdrawing status granted as final decision by type of status withdrawn - annual data ->90 days;
Resettled persons by age, sex and citizenship - annual data ->15 days.
Final result:
90 days for all monthly, quarterly and annual asylum tables;
30 days for temporary protection tables.
Statistics are comparable between geographical areas in Italy.
Data are comparable over time, except withdrawals of asylum applications.
Data on withdrawals of asylum applications have break in time series due to national revisions in January 2025.
See table 15.2. in annex ‘Quality report tables Asylum’.
