5 mn poor in Italy, 1.6 mn foreigners

(ANSA) - Rome, October 9 - There are five million people living in conditions of absolute poverty in Italy and 1.6 million of them are foreigners, ISTAT acting head Maurizio Franzini said Tuesday.
    Franzini said this was the highest level of absolute poverty since 2005 both in terms of families (1.778 million, or 6.9% of total) and in terms of individuals, 8.4% of the whole population.
    The phenomenon affects 6.2% of Italian citizens (3.349 million) and 32.3% of foreigners (1.609 million), he said.