Italy's population to shrink by 4 million by 2050, stats agency says
ISTAT said births will stay low and deaths will rise as Italy ages, with the share of residents 65 and older reaching 34.5% by 2050.
- On Monday, Italy's national statistics bureau ISTAT warned the resident population will shrink by nearly 4 million by 2050, falling from 58.9 million in 2025 to 55 million, threatening economic and welfare sustainability.
- The share of Italians aged 65 or over is projected to jump to 34.5% by 2050 from 24.7% in 2025, while the working-age population falls to 55.3%, creating structural imbalance in the workforce.
- Annual births, which fell to around 355,000 last year, are projected to drop to 335,000 by 2050, while deaths rise from about 652,000 annually toward a peak of 869,000 in 2058 as the post-war generation ages.
- Poorer southern regions face the steepest declines, with population forecast to drop from 19.7 million in 2025 to 16.7 million by 2050, exacerbating economic inequalities between the north and south.
- Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni made boosting birth rates a government priority upon taking office in 2022, but official reports indicate her efforts have produced scant results, leaving demographic decline largely unreversed.
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64 Articles
The population could fall from 58.9 million in early 2025 to 55 million in 2050 and 45.8 million in 2080. At the same time, there are fewer and fewer people of working age and more and more pensioners.
Italy ' s population could fall by almost 4 million by 2050, as evidenced by the population projections of ISTAT, which covered the period up to 2080.
The ageing of society means that senior professionals will have an increasing role in the labour market.
The promises of Giorgia Meloni's government to increase the birth rate have fallen short: the birth rate has continued to decline.
Almost 59 million people are currently living in Italy, and according to the statisticians, their number will fall steadily in the coming years. Therefore, a high death rate will result in too few births. The "minister of birth" appointed by Meloni will probably not change that.
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