Foreigners’ contribution to the evolution of fertility in Italy: a re-examination on the decade 2001-2011

The aim of our article is to describe the evolution of migrants’ fertility in Italy in the inter-census period (2001-2011) and to estimate its impact on the change of total fertility and mean age at childbearing at national and regional level. Making use of decomposition models we demonstrate as the recovery of TFR (concentrated in the period 2004-2008) was determined by Italians’ fertility recovery and by the increasing weight of foreign women. The younger age pattern of foreign fertility, together with the growing contribution to total fertility, have generally slowed down the process of increasing mean age at childbearing of female residing in Italy.