Italy’s population has stabilized after 12 years of decline: the decline in birth rates has been almost completely offset by immigration, while life expectancy continues to increase. This was reported on March 31 by the national statistics agency ISTAT, whose data is cited by Reuters.
As of January 1 this year, Italy’s resident population was 58.94 million people, almost unchanged from last year.
“Italy remains a country where only very positive net migration can compensate for the mostly negative natural changes and where the population continues to age,” the statistics office said.
The agency also noted that without a constant influx of migrants, the country’s population will begin to decline again, which will only increase long-term pressure on the labor market and public finances finance.
The influx of immigrants occurred under the right-wing government of Georgina Malone, which has taken a hard line on illegal migration while increasing the number of work visas for citizens of non-EU countries.
In 2025, the number of births fell to 355,000, a new historical minimum since the country’s unification in 1861. The number of deaths remained almost unchanged at 652,000, resulting in a negative balance of almost 300,000 people.
The fertility rate fell to an average of 1.14 children per woman. This is one of the lowest results in Europe and well below the population replacement rate of 2.1, which is attributed to the postponement of parenthood and a decrease in the number of potential parents.
Net immigration amounted to 296 thousand people. At the same time, the number of those arriving from abroad reached 440 thousand, and emigration fell sharply to 144 thousand – the lowest figure in the last ten years. The number of foreign residents increased by 188,000 to 5.56 million.
Life expectancy also continued to increase, reaching 81.7 years for men and 85.7 years for women, making Italy one of the countries with the highest life expectancies in the European Union.
ISTAT predicts that Italy’s working-age population will shrink by more than a fifth over the next 25 years. The persistent decline in Italy’s birth rate is considered a national problem.
