Overview
- Italy recorded 369,944 births in 2024, down 2.6% from 2023, according to new Istat data.
- Provisional figures for January–July 2025 show about 13,000 fewer births than a year earlier, a 6.3% decline, with fertility estimated at 1.13 after 1.18 in 2024.
- Regional gaps widened: Valle d’Aosta (+5.5%), Bolzano (+1.9%) and Trento (+0.6%) saw increases, while Abruzzo (-10.2%) and Sardinia (-10.1%) had the steepest drops.
- The North shows the smallest decline in early 2025 births (-5%) versus the Centre (-7.8%) and South (-7.2%), Istat data indicate.
- Births with at least one foreign parent were essentially stable in 2024 at 80,761 (21.8% of total) as the average maternal age rose to 32.6, with experts warning of long-run labour and welfare pressures.