Some key facts and figures about Italy's population.
 | Italian fans celebrate their World Cup 2006 victory in Rome. Italy’s natural population growth is stagnant but migration is still increasing the actual number of residents (Photo: Reuters) |
KEY FIGURES
Population (2007): 59.1 million
Annual Births: 563,236
Annual Deaths: 570,724
Net migration: 494,315
Population Growth (2007): 486,827 (+0.83 percent), including net migration
Population growth rate 2000-2005: 0.33 percent
Population growth rate 2005-2010: 0.13 percent
Life expectancy: Men 78 years, Women 84 years
Fertility Rate: 1.3 children per woman
Population over 65: 20.1 percent
Population under 15: 14.1 percent
Urban population: 68 percent
10 FACTS ABOUT DEMOGRAPHICS IN ITALY
01. Italy is the third oldest country in the world behind Japan and Germany. The average Italian is 42.5 years old.
02. Italy’s natural population growth is stagnant but migration is still increasing the actual number of residents. This effect is expected to end by 2013. By 2050 there will be 4 to 5 million fewer Italians than today. Italy’s working-age population will shrink by over 3 percent until 2016.
03. Italy’s old age dependency ratio is the highest in Europe. For every 100 working-age Italians there are 30 elderly Italians to care for.
04. On average, Italian men retire when they are 61 years old, Italian woman when they are 59. Italy spends more of its national income on pensions (11.3 percent of GDP in 2004) than any OECD country.
05. Italy has the highest ratio of doctors to population (640 per 100,000 in 2006) than any European country.
06. The average Italian mother has 1.3 children and is 31 years old when she gives birth.
07. Male life expectancy increased between 1995 and 2004 from 75.1 years to 77.9 years. Female life expectancy increased from 81.6 years to 83.8 years.
08. Forty percent of Italians aged 30 to 34 live with their parents. Over half of parents 65 or over live within 1km of a son or daughter.
09. Between 2000 and 2006 state health spending increased by only 2.8 percent per year, compared to the OECD average of 5 percent.
10. In 2006, almost half of first-time house buyers were immigrants. Between 1998 and 2008 around 3 million immigrants have come to Italy, reversing the natural population decline.
Sources:
Eurostat; UN World Population Prospects (2006 Revision); UN Population Division; Population Reference Bureau; European Observatory on the Social Situation - Demography Network; Institute for Family Policy: Laborsta Labour Statistics Database; Financial Times; Istat Survey on Family Networks (2002); OECD
editor: James Tulloch
publishing date: September 17, 2008
Do you have something interesting to add? Write a comment and discuss this topic with other readers. Comments should be on-topic, non-commercial, and not contain abuse of any kind.
Comment Policy
