Birthrate in Italy drops further in 2023

Rome: -lThe birthrate in Italy continued to fall in 2023, with 379,000 resident births or 6.4 per thousand people, according to provisional data published by ISTAT in its report on demographic indicators for the year 2023 on Friday.

In absolute terms this was 14,000 fewer births than in 2022, a drop of 3.6%, while the birthrate fell from 6.7 births per thousand people, ISTAT added.

The national statistics institute said births in Italy have fallen by 34.3% since 2008, the last year to register an increase.

The average number of children per woman fell from 1.24 in 2022 to 1.20 in 2023.

The historical minimum is 1.19 children per woman, registered in 1995.

As of January 1, 2024, the resident population stood at just under 59 million, down 7,000 units over the previous year.

The data confirm the slowdown in population decline, driven exclusively by the arrival of foreign migrants to Italy.

2023 saw an the overall positive foreign migration balance of 274,000 units, as the result of two separate dynamics: a positive balance of 326,000 new foreign resident arrivals and negative balance of 53,000 resident Italian citizens due to emigration abroad.

On a geographical level, the resident population grew in the north of Italy, remained substantially stable in the centre and shrank in the south.

Deaths in 2023 fell by 54,000 over the previous year to reach 661,000, a drop of 8%, ISTAT said.

The drop in mortality translated into a considerable leap in life expectancy at birth, gaining six months on 2022 to reach 83.1 years last year.

For men, life expectancy at birth stood at 81.1 years (+6 months over 2022) while for women was 85.2 years (+5 months over 2022).