Italian flag (Rome, Italy). Credit: Liz Castro / Flickr / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Italy’s population stops shrinking as strong migration offsets a deep gap between births and deaths, according to provisional data for 2025. The country’s resident population stood at 58.943 million on Jan. 1, 2026, nearly unchanged from a year earlier. That marked a break from recent annual declines, even as Italy continued to age and fertility kept falling.
The ISTAT figures show a country held steady by arrivals from abroad, not by natural growth. Births fell to 355,000 in 2025, down 3.9% from the previous year. Deaths were broadly stable at 652,000. That left a natural decrease of about 296,000 people, worse than in 2024.
Italy’s population stops shrinking as migration surges
Migration nearly closed that gap. Italy recorded 440,000 immigrations from abroad and 144,000 emigrations to other countries. Net international migration reached 296,000, a strong positive balance that almost fully offset the population loss caused by more deaths than births.
The trend was not even across the country. The population grew in northern Italy, remained flat in the center, and kept falling in the south. The strongest gains were recorded in Trentino-Alto Adige, Emilia-Romagna, and Lombardia. The sharpest declines were seen in Basilicata, Molise, and Sardegna.
The foreign resident population reached 5.56 million as of Jan. 1, 2026, up by 188,000 from a year earlier. Italian residents fell by 189,000 to 53.383 million. Foreign residents made up 9.4% of the total population.
Italy’s fertility rate dropped again to 1.14 children per woman in 2025, down from 1.18 in 2024. The decline matched a broader pattern seen across Europe, but Italy remained among the countries with the weakest birth rates. The average age at childbirth also rose, reaching 32.7 years.
Falling fertility and rising longevity reshape Italy’s demographics
At the same time, life expectancy increased. It reached 81.7 years for men and 85.7 years for women in 2025, among the highest levels in Europe. The gender gap narrowed to four years.
The data also pointed to continuing social change. Single-person households remained the most common type. Couples with children accounted for 28.4% of households, while couples without children made up 20.2%.
Internal movement within Italy also increased. Changes of residence between municipalities rose 5.1% to 1.455 million, with the North continuing to attract people from other parts of the country.
The latest figures show that migration has become the key force keeping Italy’s population stable. But they also underline a long-term challenge: fewer births, an older population, and a continued demographic divide between the North and the South.