Italy has six over-64s for every child under six

Rome: Italy’s population continued to age in 2023, so much so that it had almost six over-64s for every child under six last year, Istat said in a report on Monday.

To be precise, the ratio was 5.8 elderly people for every small child, up from 5.6 in 2022 and 3.8 in 2011.

The national statistics agency said the average age of the population rose to 46.6 years in 2023, up by 0.2% on 2022.

It said the average age was 48 for women and 45.2 for men in Italy.

The country’s youngest region is Campania, with an average age of 44.2 years.

Istat said births continued to decline last year, with 379,890 babies being born here, just over six for every 1,000 residents and a drop of around 13,000 on 2022.

It said the proportion of the population aged under 15 dropped from 12.4% to 12.2%, while the proportion aged 65 or over rose from 24% to 24.3%, with the 15-64 age group steady at 63.5%.

The agency said life expectancy at birth was 81 for men, up five months on 2022, and 85.1 for women, up four months.

Istat said Italy’s population was 58.971.230 at the end of 2023, down 25,971 on the previous year.