Italy Population

Italy has one of the world's lowest fertility rates and one of its oldest populations, a combination driving steady natural decline. The south and rural interior are emptying as young people move to cities or abroad, leaving villages so depopulated that some sell houses for a single euro to attract residents. Without sustained immigration the population would fall considerably faster than it already is.

With roughly 59.0 million people as of 2026, Italy ranks 25th in the world by population. In Southern Europe, where it lies, that future is driven by fertility, longevity and the movement of people across its borders. It packs in roughly 199 people per square kilometre.

Having topped out near 60.7 million around 2014, Italy has entered the long, slow decline now spreading across much of the world. Its population is projected to fall to roughly 52.1 million by 2050 and about 35.5 million by 2100. The 50 million threshold was crossed near 1963.

The median age is set to climb from about 48 today to roughly 53 by 2100, while life expectancy, near 84 years, keeps rising. A rising median age means fewer working-age people supporting each retiree over time.

Fertility is exceptionally low, near 1.21 births per woman, far beneath the roughly 2.1 needed to hold a population steady.

All of this is a projection, not a prediction. The further out it runs the wider the plausible range becomes, which is why Italy's charts show a low-to-high band around the central line.