The turnover of irregular work in Italy

It amounts to 68 billion euros the annual turnover attributable to the irregular work present in Italy. Approximately 35% of this added value produced by the underground economy can be attributed to the regions of the South. This is what emerges from an analysis conducted by the Cgia Research Office. The report also highlights that the people involved in the underground economy in our country are just under 3 million and also in this case the South is the geographical area of ​​the country with the highest percentage: 37.2% of the total. However, the phenomenon has now also extended to the Centre-North and has a record presence especially in the sector of services to people (housekeepers, carers, etc.). The rate of irregularity in this sector reaches 42.6%. In second place we see agriculture with 16.8% and in third place construction with 13.3%. The added value produced in 2021 by irregular work in Italy was equal to 68 billion euros, of which 23.7 billion in the South, 17.3 in the Northwest, 14.5 in the Center and 12.4 in the Northeast. If we measure the percentage incidence of this amount on the total regional added value, the highest share, equal to 8.3%, concerns Calabria. Campania follows with 6.9%, Sicily with 6.6% and Puglia with 6.2%. The national average is 4.2%.

Of the 2,848,100 irregular workers estimated in Italy by Istat, 1,061,900 are located in the South, 691,300 in the Northwest, 630,000 in the Center and 464,900 in the Northeast. If we calculate the irregularity rate, given by the ratio between the number of irregular workers and the total number of workers employed per region, the most significant presence is always recorded in the South and, in particular, in Calabria with 19.6%. Campania follows with 16.5% and Sicily with 16%. The average Italian figure is 11.3%. The Cgia also emphasizes that the 3 million standard work units (ULA) present in Italy who carry out a work activity in clear violation of tax, contribution and safety regulations, “provoke” an irregularity rate of 12.7%. Other personal services are the sector that “nests” the largest number of irregulars: precisely just over one million ULA which gives rise to an irregularity rate in this sector of 42.6%. Among the sectors most affected by undeclared work we see agriculture which, according to the elaboration carried out by the CGIA Research Office, has an irregularity rate of 16.8% (205,800 ULA). Below we see construction with 13.3% (220,200 ULA) and commerce, transport, hospitality with 12.7% (691,700 ULA). Net of those who work in personal care services, it should be noted that for the other sectors where there is more undeclared work it is also higher the risk of accidents in the workplace.

The investigation also shows that after the economic crisis caused by the pandemic, in some areas of the country, important parts of the economy have come under the control of mafia-style criminal organizations that have combined massive economic investments with the use of violence, threats and seizure of documents to “win” the favor of large masses of workers, especially foreigners. The application of these coercions has transformed many pockets of the underground economy into forced labor, causing many Italians who were in vulnerable conditions to slip into this infernal circle. The phenomenon of illegal/forced labor has always been linked to gangmastering. Indeed, in many cases the first is the antechamber of the second; not only in agriculture or construction, but also in textiles, logistics, delivery and assistance services. Those exploited are the most vulnerable, such as people in extreme poverty, immigrants and women. The sector most affected by this social and economic plague is certainly agriculture. The exploitation of labor in this sector can be traced back to the simultaneous presence of these critical issues: the massive use of labor for short periods and in isolated places, which often lead to the creation of informal housing settlements; the inadequate conditions of both transportation and accommodation services; the precarious or irregular legal status of many migrant workers. Gangmastering phenomena to the detriment of immigrants, reports the Cgia, have been present for many decades in the Agro Pontino (LT), in the Agro nocerino-sarnese (SA), in Villa Literno (CE), in the Capitanata area (FG) and in the Piana di Gioia Tauro (RC).