Italy's births set to sink to a new record low in 2025

Italy is set to suffer a further drop in the number of births this year to a new historical low, aggravating the country's demographic crisis, national statistics bureau ISTAT said on Tuesday.

Last year recorded just 3,70,000 new births, the lowest figure since Italy's unification in 1861, and the 16th year in a row in which the figure declined.

In the first seven months of 2025 the negative trend continued, with just under 1,98,000 newborns, down 6.3% from the same period of 2024, ISTAT said in a statement.

Italy's long-declining birth rate is considered a national emergency. But despite Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her predecessors' pledges to confront the issue, no one has been able to halt the drop.

In a separate report on Tuesday, ISTAT said the steady ageing of the population and the gradual rise in the retirement age will result in a progressively older workforce.

It said that by 2050 the share of people either working or looking for work in the 55-64 age group will rise to 70% from 61% last year, while in the 65-74 age group it will rise to 16% from 11%.