Italy birth rate falls for 15th year running to a record low
Business
The country has seen real wage decline since 1990
- It recorded 379,000 births, a 3.6 per cent decline on 2022 and a 34.2pc drop on 2008
- Almost one in four residents were above the age of 65, with more people aged over 80 than under 10 for the first time
ROME (Reuters/Web Desk) – Births in Italy dropped to a record low in 2023, the 15th consecutive annual decline, national statistics bureau ISTAT said, as the population continued to shrink.
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Italy's ever-falling birth rate is considered a national emergency, but despite successive governments pledging to make it a priority, none have so far been able to halt the drop.
Last year, Italy recorded 379,000 births, a 3.6 per cent decline on 2022 and a 34.2pc drop on 2008 – the last year Italy saw an increase in the number of babies born. It was also the lowest number since the country's unification in 1861.
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The fertility rate fell to 1.20 children per woman from 1.24 in 2022 – far below the rate of 2.1 needed for a steady population.
By contrast, some 661,000 deaths were registered last year, a fall on the previous three years when COVID boosted the mortality rate in Italy. ISTAT said life expectancy also jumped last year to 83.1 years, up six months on 2022.
While there were some 282,000 more deaths than births in 2023, Italy's overall population only fell by 7,000 to 58.99 million thanks to the arrival of more foreign migrants and returning Italian émigrés.
Foreigners made up 8.99pc of the country's population in 2023, for a total of 5.3 million, up 3.2pc year-on-year, with the majority living in the north of the country.
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Italy's overall population has been falling steadily since 2014, with a cumulative loss since then of more than 1.36 million people, equivalent to the residents of Milan, the country's second biggest city.
ISTAT said last September that Italy could lose almost 10pc of its residents in the next 25 years, with the population set to decline, under a baseline scenario, to 54.4 million by 2050.
Underscoring Italy's rapidly ageing population, ISTAT said that almost one in four residents were above the age of 65, with more people aged over 80 than under 10 for the first time. Half a century ago, the ratio was one to nine.
The number of centenarians hit a new high of 22,500.
REASONS BEHIND THIS TREND
There are a number of economic and social factors contributing to the present state of affairs, which, experts say, require long-term policies addressing the challenges.
On the economic front, it is the childcare costs. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) says Italy is the only country where real wages declined between 1990 and 2020.
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It means that the parents, or the couple, need to join the workforce. But the number of employed women is far less than the other developed countries like Germany and France.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni – representing the nationalist forces – has introduced measures to extend state support to the women for encouraging them to have babies. However, results are yet to be seen.
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However, the Italian women are also challenging the social norms revolving around traditional family and the mothers giving their complete attention to the children.
In this way, one can say they are acting just like their counterparts – the Japanese women, the South Korean women and the Chinese women – who provide examples from the two other traditional societies, witnessing economic development and social change.
