How AIRE members are distributed and what they do in the Czech Republic.
Demographic Characteristics.
The AIRE data help us outline the general picture thanks to the division based on AIRE registrants. We will divide them into Italians and “foreigners,” which includes those who already reside abroad because they were born outside Italy or acquired Italian citizenship at a later time. Despite the significantly larger number of Italian residents in the Czech Republic, the number of foreigners also occupies a significant portion, accounting for over 20% of AIRE registrants. The total number of registrants in 2022 was 9,808, of which 7,590 (77.39%) were Italians and 2,218 (22.61%) were foreigners. The total number of registrants is evenly divided between males and females, with 5,331 (54.35%) being male and 4,477 (45.65%) being female.
Another data point that helps paint a better picture of AIRE registrants is related to their age. As shown in the table below, the majority of AIRE registrants in the Czech Republic fall between the ages of 36 and 49 (30.16%). There are also peaks in the age groups of 26-35 years (17.4%) and 50-65 years (17.27%). It is also worth noting that the majority of registrants fall within the so-called “working age” category, and the number of males and females is equal across all age categories.
Professional Characteristics.
The study aimed to investigate another characteristic of the sample, which focused on the profession and, consequently, the level of education of the AIRE registrants in the Czech Republic. Unfortunately, 60.25% of the sample did not provide a specific response regarding their educational qualifications. The remaining respondents, 3,899 individuals (39.75%), were distributed as follows: 49% stated they had a university degree, 35% stated they had a high school diploma, 14% stated they had a middle school license, and a small portion of the sample stated they had an elementary school license, likely referring to minors who are still completing their education. Subsequently, the sample was asked about their employment status. In this case, 66.5% of the total individuals did not respond to the question, so we will analyze the responses from the sub-sample represented by the remaining 33.5% of the respondents. The sub-sample consists of 3,286 individuals, of which the majority, 1,103, declared themselves as employees, 467 stated they were self-employed professionals, and 287 were students. The rest of the sample shows considerable diversity, as shown in the table below.
Territorial Focus.
As one would easily imagine, the majority of AIRE registrants residing in the Czech Republic live in the capital city, Prague. The second most populous city is Brno in South Moravia. The remaining 35% of the respondents are evenly distributed throughout the rest of the Czech Republic territory. Prague accounts for 54.17% of AIRE registrants, likely because it offers the most employment opportunities in the country. Data extracted from the publication of Český Statistický Úřad, the Czech Statistical Office, tells us that according to the police data for foreigners, the Italian community is larger than the French, Spanish, or Austrian communities. Overall, there were 659,000 foreigners with a residence permit in the Czech Republic in 2021, approximately six percent of the total population. The largest communities are those of Ukraine, which had nearly 200,000 people before the war, Slovakia with 115,000 people, and Vietnam with 65,000 people.
A significant number of Italians residing in the Czech Republic are engaged in small businesses. Over 1,200 have permits for entrepreneurial activities. However, this data may include some individuals who have active permits but permanently reside in another country.
Sources: https://www.czso.cz/
Graphic source: https://storyset.com/
Source of images: https://pixabay.com/
