Italy has been labeled the country of emigration par excellence. Not only did Italians migrate in larger numbers than any other European people but they did so for a longer period of time, and went to a greater variety of destinations. Economic factors were the principal stimulus to leave, but political and – to a lesser extent – religious factors also played an important role. The magnitude of Italian emigration between the last quarter of the 19th century and the First World War – when 14 million of the 50 million Europeans who went to the Americas were Italians – has tended to obscure the fact that significant population movements characterized the Italian peninsula from the late Middle Ages and throughout the second half of the 20th century, when Italy completed its transition from that of a sending to receiving area.

Between the 16th century and the present time, three broad phases can be identified in Italian migration history. Up until the national unification in 1861, the Italian peninsula was both a sending and receiving area regarding international migration and experienced as well movements of population within the peninsula. The establishment of an independent state coincided with the beginning of Italian mass emigration, which was directed both to European and overseas destinations. Italy remained a country of out migration until 1973, when the Italian migration balance showed, for the first time, a positive sign. Since then, Italy has been a receiving country for immigrants from Africa, Asia, eastern Europe, and Latin America.