ROME - The fertility rate in Italy continues to plumet, with the National Institute of Statistics releasing new demographic indicators and population trends and the data showing a further reduction in births. 

 In 2024, 370 thousand births were recorded, with 1.18 children per woman, a figure that is lower than the lowest recorded of 1.19 in 1995, when 526 thousand children were born. At the same time, family units have shrunk, falling in 20 years from 2.6 members to the current 2.2. The demographic decline, specifies ISTAT, is much more marked in the South. The statistics speak of a reduction in the population in four out of five municipalities, with a variation of 5 per thousand compared to the previous year. 

 At the regional level, Trentino Alto Adige remains at the top of the pyramid of highest fertility in Italy, with 1.39 children on average per woman in 2024 - a figure that is still decreasing compared to 1.43 in 2023. In second and third place respectively are Sicily (1.27 children per woman) and Campania (1.29), regions, together with Trentino, with the youngest mothers on average (between 31 and 32 years old). The general trend also corresponds to a clear decrease in marriages as there were only 173 thousand in 2024 which is 11 thousand less than in 2023.

 In addition, emigration abroad is growing, a boom of just under 191 thousand exoduses (+20.5% on 2023) of which 156 thousand are Italian citizens who choose to expatriate. The highest figure of the entire 2000s. On the other hand, there has been an increase in new Italian citizens: according to ISTAT, 217,000 Italian citizenships have been granted to foreigners, a figure that exceeds the maximum of 214,000 in 2023. 

 So much so that on 1 January 2024 the foreign resident population was 5 million and 308 thousand individuals, +166,000 on the previous year. According to provisional data, Bangladesh is the main country of origin of foreign immigration flows (7.8% of the total), followed by Albania (7.1%) and Ukraine (6.5%). As for the repatriations of Italian citizens, 15.4% come from Germany, while 11.5% come from the United Kingdom.

 In the general picture, however, there is some positive news. ISTAT reports that there was a significant increase in life expectancy in our country. Overall, life expectancy at birth is on average 83.4 years, or 5 months more than two years ago. With a falling birth rate on the one hand and a falling mortality rate on the other (in 2024, deaths amounted to 651 thousand, 20 thousand less than in 2023), the working-age population is decreasing, compared to 1 January 2005, by one million and 179 thousand individuals, going from 66.4% to 63.4%. That is to say, six new-borns and 11 deaths per 1,000 inhabitants. 

 Among the elderly, the number of people over eighty-five is growing, 65% of whom are women. The number of people over one hundred is also increasing: 2 thousand more than in 2024, with, again, a preponderance of women (83% of the total). However, when considering age in regional terms, Central Italy has the lowest percentage of young people up to 14 years of age. The highest proportion of the population over sixty-five is recorded in the Centre (25.3%), followed by the North (25.1%). The region with the highest share of working-age population is Campania (65.3%), followed by Lazio (64.2%) and Lombardy (63.9). Liguria is the region with the lowest percentage, equal to 60.5%.

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