The number of babies born in Italy fell to a new historic low in 2024, with 369,944 births registered, a 2.6% decline from the previous year, national statistics agency Istat reported on Tuesday.
Provisional data for January to July 2025 suggest the decline is continuing, with 13,000 fewer births than in the same period of 2024 — a 6.3% drop, Istat said.
Italy’s fertility rate also hit a record low in 2024, averaging 1.18 children per woman, down from 1.20 in 2023. The provisional rate for the first seven months of 2025 stands even lower, at 1.13.
Births in Italy have been on a steady downward trend since 2008, when 576,000 babies were born. The agency noted that Italian women are having children later in life: the average age at childbirth rose to 32.6 years in 2024, compared with 32.5 in 2023 and 29.6 in 1995. The average age for first-time mothers increased to 31.9 years, up from 31.7 a year earlier and 28.1 in 1995.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has repeatedly described reversing Italy’s demographic decline as an “absolute priority.” Her government has introduced family support measures and means-tested tax breaks for working mothers, though the impact of such policies has yet to reverse the trend.
