The 5th Alpine State Report (RSA V), published in 2015, addressed the topic of ‘demography’. The report included a study on migration within the Alpine Convention area in the first decade of the 21st century, based on annual migration data from all Alpine municipalities (Bender 2015), with a focus on the ‘New Highlanders’ (cf. Bender & Kanitscheider 2012).

The aim of the current update is to create and evaluate an expanded database for the years 2002–2021, covering not only migration but also other areas of spatial mobility (commuting, second homes, tourism). The project is based on a cooperation agreement between the IGF and the University of Turin, which other international partners can join. It is supported by the Alpine Conference, specifically the Italian Presidency, the Contracting Parties and the Permanent Secretariat. The data is provided by the national statistical offices of the Contracting States. A first interim report is available here (Membretti, Bender et al. 2025).

References:

Bender, O. 2015: Study on immigration to and emigration from the Alps with respect to the ‘new highlanders’. In: Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention (ed.), Demographic Changes in the Alps. Report on the State of the Alps. (= Alpine Signals, Special Edition 5). Innsbruck: Alpine Convention, pp. 56–60.

Bender, O., Kanitscheider, S. 2012: New Immigration into the European Alps: Emerging Research Issues. In: Mountain Research and Development 32 (2), pp. 235–241. DOI: 10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-12-00030.1

Membretti, A., Bender, O., et al. (eds.) 2025: Demographic scenarios, residential mobility and impacts of climate change in the Alps. Intermediate report focusing on the Italian and, partly, Austrian Alps. ISTAT u.a. Roma. https://www.istat.it/en/news/demographic-scenarios-residential-mobility-and-impactsof-climate-change-in-the-alps/