Italy’s birth rate lowest since unification in 1861

Births in Italy slumped to a record low in 2019 according to national statistics office ISTAT, a year which also saw the population shrink and many Italians choosing to move abroad.

The number of babies born in 2019 fell around 19,000 from the previous year to 420,000, the lowest since the unification of Italy in 1861. In addition, the number of deaths was registered as 634,000.

Italy’s shrinking and ageing population has been posited as one reason for the country’s economic struggles.

In 2019, Bolzano in northern Italy was the only province to record a higher number of births than deaths.

The country’s total population fell by 189,000, continuing the downward trend of the last four years.