An ageing population, a huge number of elderly people, and few births: Eurostat presents a picture of a fading Italy

Brussels – A large elderly population, an ageing population, low birth rates: Italy’s decline—demographic and otherwise—is encapsulated in this summary of the data from the latest edition on demography in the European Union published by Eurostat, the EU’s statistical office. Italy is mentioned several times in the interactive document, but this is not a good thing. It is not good, first and foremost, for the country itself, which is portrayed as a nation slowly fading. First of all, it is fading away from a demographic perspective: among EU Member States, “the highest median age in 2025 was recorded in Italy (49.1 years),” notes the European Statistical Office, confirming once again that Italy is unable to tackle the typical ageing-population issue facing the nation. 

After Italy, Bulgaria and Portugal have the highest median age (47 years and 2 months). What’s more, while the EU average is one in five people aged 65 or over, in Italy this figure is one in four. This unique figure is obtained by combining the proportion of the population aged between 65 and 79 with that of men and women aged 80 and over. The data collected by Eurostat indicate the following figures when comparing the total EU population (450.6 million) and the Italian population (58.9 million) as at 1 January 2025: EU averages of 15.8 per cent and 6.2 per cent respectively (equivalent to 71.2 million and 27.9 million in absolute terms), compared with 17 per cent and 7.8 per cent (equivalent to 10 million and 4.6 million). 

The picture for Italy is made worse by the birth rate figures: among EU countries, the highest rates were recorded in Cyprus (10 live births per thousand people), Ireland (9.9), and France (9.6), while the lowest were recorded in Italy (6.3), Spain (6.5), Lithuania and Greece (both at 6.6). 

Here, then, are the figures on the crisis facing a country that is, in all likelihood, also dying economically. Looking ahead, there will be a shortage of men and women for the labour market, while the country will have to pay out ever-increasing pensions.