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Main article: Population of Italy
Birth rate
2023: Birth rate fell to historic low - 379 thousand children
Just 379,000 children were born in Italy in 2023, despite efforts by Georgia Prime Minister Meloni to reverse the demographic decline.
2022: The minimum birth rate since 1861 is 392 thousand births
On April 7, 2023, the National Institute of Statistics of Italy (ISTAT) announced that according to the results of 2022, the country recorded the lowest birth rate since 1861.
In 2022, 392,600 births were registered in Italy, compared with 400,249 during the previous year. Thus, the decline was approximately 1.8%. The decline in the birth rate has been observed for 14 years in a row, which raises concerns among the country's authorities. The population of Italy, which at the beginning of 2023 amounted to approximately 59 million people, according to ISTAT estimates, may decrease to 48 million by 2070.
The main factor in the fall in fertility is the reduction and aging of the female population in the age group from 15 to 49 years old, traditionally considered reproductive, the institute said in a statement. |
The total birth rate (fertility rate), showing how much one woman would give birth on average throughout the reproductive period, in Italy decreased to 1.24 in 2022 against 1.25 in 2021. Basically, a decrease in the birth rate was recorded in the central and northern regions of the country.
The ISTAT report states that the demographic situation in Italy continues to deteriorate. The birth rate in 2022 was at a record low, while mortality is still high: less than 7 babies and more than 12 deaths per 1000 residents. Every fourth person in Italy is over 65 years old, and the number of centenarians has tripled in 20 years (by the beginning of 2023), reaching about 22 thousand. Life expectancy at birth in 2022 was 82.6 years. At the same time, people in the rich central and northern regions of the country live longer than in the poorer southern regions. In general, men born in Italy can expect to live up to 80 years and 6 months, and women - almost 85 years.[1]
2021
Fertility rate dropped to 1.25 children per woman
Italy records lowest birth rate in 160 years
On December 14, 2021, the National Statistical Service (ISTAT) reported that the birth rate in Italy was falling sharply, and for the first time in 160 years it reached a new low.
According to statistics office ISTAT, 404,892 babies were born in 2020, 15,192 fewer than in 2019. At the same time, 746,146 people died in 2020, and the population decreased to 59.3 million. This figure has been declining for the 12th year in a row.
In 2021, the decline in the birth rate continues, as shown by preliminary data for January-September: the number of births for 2021 is 12,500 less than in the same period in 2020. ISTAT said the COVID-19 epidemic was the main factor in the sharp drop.
The average number of children per woman living in Italy dropped to 1.24 in 2020. For Italian women, the figure was even lower at 1.17 - one of the lowest in the world.
Fertility rates varied between the industrialized north and the poorer south. In Bolzano, near the border with Austria, the birth rate was 1.71, while on the southern island of Sardinia, women averaged 0.97 children.
The average age at which Italian women give birth to their first child rose to a record 32.7 years in 2020, while 35.8% of births occurred out of wedlock. In 2008, this number was only 19.6%, which indicates a sharp decrease in the influence of the Catholic Church.
At the same time as the birth rate in Italy reached a new minimum, the birth rate in such countries as Germany sharply increased amid the pandemic. In March 2021, 65,903 births were registered in the country, which is 5,900 more than in 2020. The birth rate in Germany 2020 was lower compared to 2019.
European countries, including Spain and France, also reported a drop in fertility from December 2020 to January 2021. However, Germany showed 182,000 more babies born in the same period, a total of ten months after the country first introduced isolation due to the virus.[2]
2019
The average age of women at birth of the first child is 29 years and older
Europe's lowest number of children per woman
inMortality
2023: Life expectancy - 84.2 years
2022: Excess mortality due to COVID-19 - 12.3%
2019: Suicides per 100,000 people
in2018
Number of drug deaths per million residents
Number of road deaths per 100,000 vehicles
The annual number of suicides per 100 thousand inhabitants
2016: Very low number of deaths from opioid use disorders
2012: Male-female suicide ratio
See also