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CV NEWS FEED // Italy’s population crisis deepened last year as the country recorded its lowest number of births since national unification in 1861, despite government incentives aimed at encouraging families to grow.
According to Istat, Italy’s national statistics agency, just 370,000 babies were born in 2024 — a 2.6% drop from the previous year and the 16th consecutive annual decline in births, Financial Times reported March 31.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who has made reversing Italy’s demographic collapse a key policy goal, has introduced financial incentives such as extended parental leave and tax breaks for mothers with multiple children. Yet experts say the measures have fallen short.
Demographer Maria Rita Testa argued that financial incentives alone are unlikely to reverse Italy’s birth decline, pointing instead to deeper structural issues. These include a persistent “difficulty in reconciling work and family life,” fragmented family policies, and “the low level of gender equality in the labour market and within the couple,” according to Testa.
Meloni, a mother herself, leads a coalition that has made demographic recovery a pillar of its social vision. However, the challenge is growing. Italy’s fertility rate fell to 1.18 children per woman in 2024 — the lowest since records began in 1952 and far below the replacement level of 2.1.
Alongside the decline in births, Italy also saw a sharp rise in emigration. Nearly 191,000 Italians left the country last year, a 20.5% increase from 2023. The trend reflects a continued “brain drain” as educated young people seek better opportunities abroad, particularly in countries like Germany, Spain, and the U.K.
The demographic collapse is already reshaping Italian life, according to Financial Times. Schools are closing for lack of students, and baby product companies are under strain.
The working-age population also continues to shrink, dropping to 63.4% in 2024, down from 66.4% in 2005. With nearly a quarter of Italians now over the age of 65 — and more than 23,500 citizens over 100 — Italy ranks among the oldest countries in the world, alongside Japan and Monaco.
