A demographic chill is blowing over Sardinia. Over the next twenty years, the Island will lose almost a third of its workforce. According to the study “Young people, businesses and work” by Confartigianato Imprese Sardegna, presented this morning in Cagliari, the working population (20-64 years) will drop by 277,000 units, going from the current 922,000 to 645,000 in 2044: a decrease of 30%. An alarming figure that foreshadows a real socio-economic emergency .
The situation is even more critical among young people . The number of Sardinians between 15 and 35 years old will drop from the current 287,000 to just 208,000 in 2044, with a loss of almost 80,000 young people in twenty years. Compared to 2004, when there were 455,000 young people, the drop will be 54.3%. Cagliari, which already has 76,000 young people compared to 199,000 twenty years ago, will suffer a further collapse. Nuoro, Oristano and Sassari-Gallura will follow the same fate.
For Confartigianato, this “ice age” is not just a numerical problem: Sardinia alone risks being “emptied of skills and future” . Every year, around 1,000 new youth-run businesses are created, but that is not enough. The 13,700 businesses run by young people represent just 8% of all Sardinian businesses. Craftsmanship, a key sector of the local economy, is in difficulty: only 7.5% of businesses are run by young artisans. Furthermore, finding staff under 35 is increasingly difficult: out of 40,000 young people requested by companies, 42% are unavailable.
The implications are serious: the mismatch between labor supply and demand costs the Sardinian economy 223 million euros per year. If this trend is not reversed, the productive fabric of the island risks slowly dying out . A Sardinia without young people risks being an island without a future.