Italian Birth Rates Hit Historic Low

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Koushik Korampalli
March 31, 2024
Est read: 1 minute
  • 379,000 babies were born in Italy in 2023
    • This is down from 393,000 in 2022.
    • This 3.6% drop is a record low for Italy.
    • The birth rate has been declining for 16 consecutive years.
  • There were recorded 661,000 deaths, giving an overall difference of 282,000.
  • The average number of children per woman was 1.2 in 2023. The all-time low was 1.19 in 1995.
  • 13.3% of the babies in 2023 were children of foreign citizens living in the country.
    • Around 155,754 migrants entered Italy in 2023.
    • Foreigners made up 9% of Italy’s population.
  • Low wages and lack of support for children and parents are reasons for decreasing birth rate.
    • 10% of the population live in absolute poverty.
    • The average wage is 12% below the European average.

      Prime Minister Meloni said that the governments’ primary objective is to “initiate a substantial cultural change”.

       However, one of the first things Meloni did in office was remove the income support scheme in Italy.

       Meloni also cut benefits to low-income families and extended the pre-existing surrogacy ban.. Azzurra Rinaldi, the director of the school of gender economics at Unitelma-Sapienza, said that preaching about the role of a family isn’t going to help, “You need to help women go to work, earn money and then they can decide to be mothers.” Italy had Previously set a target to build childcare facilities for 260,000 infants, this target has now been cut to 160,000. The government also experimented with VAT cuts on baby products such as nappies and baby formula but those have now been eliminated. With fertility also on the fall, the number of potential parents in the future is also looking bleak.