Overview
- ISTAT reported on Oct. 21, 2026 that 355,772 babies were born in 2025, the lowest annual total since Italian unification and the 17th straight year of decline.
- Early 2026 data show the drop continuing, with just under 197,000 births in January–July, a 1.1% fall from the same period in 2025, and a fertility rate sliding to about 1.13 children per woman.
- Women are having children later: the average age at first birth is about 32 and the average age at childbirth is roughly 32.7, trends linked to higher education, unstable work and housing conditions.
- The decline is nationwide but has hit the South hardest recently, with regional fertility rates converging (Mezzogiorno 1.16, North 1.15, Centre 1.07) and steeper drops in first and second births in the South.
- Researchers and family associations describe the situation as a demographic emergency and say reversing it will require sustained, structural policies that address labour-market stability, housing and childcare rather than one-off incentives.