ROME - According to The National Institute for Statistics (Istat), the main supplier of official statistical information in Italy, the number of Italians who have emigrated has more than doubled over the five years between 2009 and 2014.

  Emigrant numbers increased by 8.2 percent in 2014 compared to 2013, the national statistics agency said.

  The main countries of emigration in 2014 were Germany, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and France.

  Approximately 45,000 young people up to 25 years of age have decided to emigrate, 12,000 of whom are graduates.

  The UK is the preferred destination of graduates (more than 3,000), just slightly ahead of Germany (2,400).

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