Italy's birth rate falls to 80-year low, with just 355,000 babies born in 2025

Fertility rate drops to 1.14 children per woman as new report finds economic hardship is driving the decline. Italy recorded its lowest number of births since world war two in 2025, with just 355,000 babies born and the fertility rate falling to 1.14 children per woman, according to new data released this week. The figure marks a further drop from the 369,000 births recorded in 2024, when the fertility rate stood at 1.18. The report by the Fondazione per la Natalità in collaboration with the national statistics agency ISTAT, was presented on Tuesday at an event attended by the foundation's president, Gigi De Palo, ISTAT president Francesco Maria Chelli, and INPS director general Valeria Vittimberga. Ageing nation The report paints a picture of a rapidly ageing nation. Against 355,000 births, Italy recorded 652,000 deaths in 2025, leaving a negative natural population balance of 297,000 people. "At this rate, with the growing elderly population, by 2050, for every 100 young people up to the age of 14, there will be approximately 300 over-65s," ISTAT president Chelli said during the presentation. While Italy boasts one of the highest life expectancies in the world, at 83.4 years, the report warns that this is placing growing strain on the sustainability of the healthcare, welfare and pension systems. "The problem of declining birth rates is central to Italy and arose in the 1970s, when fertility rates began to decline" - Chelli said - "Today we're at 1.14, and the replacement rate, which would allow the population to remain stable, is 2.1, so we're almost halfway to what would be necessary". Factors Crucially, the study argues that the collapse in births is not due to a declining desire among Italians to become parents. Just 5.5 per cent of those without children said parenthood simply did not feature in their life plans, while 62.2 per cent of people who will not have further children said they had given up on the idea because of economic, professional or social obstacles. More than 2.8 million Italians cited economic and employment difficulties as the primary reason for forgoing children. The gap between aspiration and reality is stark, according to the report: had the fertility intentions declared by Italian women been realised, around 760,000 children would have been born in 2025 - more than double the actual number. Career concerns weigh particularly heavily on women. Almost one woman in two fears negative consequences for her career if she becomes a mother. More than three million women are currently economically inactive for family reasons, compared with just 151,000 men. Fondazione per la Natalità president De Palo said the findings should put to rest the idea that Italians simply do not want children. He said the data show the opposite is true, and argued that the real problem is that millions of people are unable to fulfil their life plans. He added that as long as having a child continues to be seen as an economic, professional and social risk, the decline will carry on affecting everyone, stressing that birth rates are not a private matter but a question that determines the future of welfare, the economy and social cohesion. INPS director general Vittimberga said that poverty is not to blame for the low birth rate but rather it is "job insecurity, insufficient income, difficulty in accessing housing, lack of services, and the professional disadvantage of mothers that make having children more difficult."

WIRE — Fertility rate drops to 1.14 children per woman as new report finds economic hardship is driving the decline. Italy recorded its lowest number of births since world war two in 2025, with just 355,000 babies born and the fertility rate falling to 1.14 children per woman, according to new data released this week. The figure marks a further drop from the 369,000 births recorded in 2024, when the fertility rate stood at 1.18. The report by the Fondazione per la Natalità in collaboration with the national statistics agency ISTAT, was presented on Tuesday at an event attended by the foundation's president, Gigi De Palo, ISTAT president Francesco Maria Chelli, and INPS director general Valeria Vittimberga. Ageing nation The report paints a picture of a rapidly ageing nation. Against 355,000 births, Italy recorded 652,000 deaths in 2025, leaving a negative natural population balance of 297,000 people. "At this rate, with the growing elderly population, by 2050, for every 100 young people up to the age of 14, there will be approximately 300 over-65s," ISTAT president Chelli said during the presentation. While Italy boasts one of the highest life expectancies in the world, at 83.4 years, the report warns that this is placing growing strain on the sustainability of the healthcare, welfare and pension systems. "The problem of declining birth rates is central to Italy and arose in the 1970s, when fertility rates began to decline" - Chelli said - "Today we're at 1.14, and the replacement rate, which would allow the population to remain stable, is 2.1, so we're almost halfway to what would be necessary". Factors Crucially, the study argues that the collapse in births is not due to a declining desire among Italians to become parents. Just 5.5 per cent of those without children said parenthood simply did not feature in their life plans, while 62.2 per cent of people who will not have further children said they had given up on the idea because of economic, professional or social obstacles. More than 2.8 million Italians cited economic and employment difficulties as the primary reason for forgoing children. The gap between aspiration and reality is stark, according to the report: had the fertility intentions declared by Italian women been realised, around 760,000 children would have been born in 2025 - more than double the actual number. Career concerns weigh particularly heavily on women. Almost one woman in two fears negative consequences for her career if she becomes a mother. More than three million women are currently economically inactive for family reasons, compared with just 151,000 men. Fondazione per la Natalità president De Palo said the findings should put to rest the idea that Italians simply do not want children. He said the data show the opposite is true, and argued that the real problem is that millions of people are unable to fulfil their life plans. He added that as long as having a child continues to be seen as an economic, professional and social risk, the decline will carry on affecting everyone, stressing that birth rates are not a private matter but a question that determines the future of welfare, the economy and social cohesion. INPS director general Vittimberga said that poverty is not to blame for the low birth rate but rather it is "job insecurity, insufficient income, difficulty in accessing housing, lack of services, and the professional disadvantage of mothers that make having children more difficult."

"We aggregate wires to encourage regional discovery, sending readers directly back to the original source to explore full coverage."

This is a normalized overview of the breaking feed event. The complete, official release detailing all points, background context, and statements remains hosted by the original publisher.