Overview
- ISTAT reported on Wednesday that Italy registered 355,772 births in 2025, the fewest since 1861, and that births in January–July 2026 fell 1.1% with the fertility rate edging down to 1.13.
- The fall is nationwide but strongest in the South where first births fell 5.3% in 2025, and regional fertility rates are converging across North, Centre and Mezzogiorno.
- Women are having children later in life: the average age at childbirth rose to 32.7 in 2025 and the average age for a first child is about 32, trends linked to higher education and later entry into stable work.
- Social and economic factors cited by ISTAT include unstable jobs, difficulty accessing housing, and limited family support services, and family groups and experts are calling for sustained structural policies rather than short-term incentives.
- Analysts warn the decline could deepen population ageing and shrink the labour force, increasing pressure on pensions and public spending unless long-running barriers to family formation are addressed.