Birth rate in Italy reaches new record low

Just over 393,000 children were born in Italy in 2022, representing a 1.7% drop over the previous year and taking the birth rate to a new record low, Istat said on Thursday, Azernews reports, citing ANSA.

The downwards trend also seems to be continuing in 2023 as well: according to provisional data, in the first half of the year there was a 1.9% reduction in the birth rate, equal to 3,500 fewer babies born, over the first half of 2022, the national statistics agency said.

ISTAT added that the number of births has been falling uninterruptedly for 15 years, dropping by 31.8% from the record peak of 576,659 births in 2008 to the present level.

The contribution to the birth rate of the foreign population in Italy also seems to be waning, ISTAT said.

In addition, the statistics agency said 41.5% of the children born in Italy in 2022, or 163,317, were born out of wedlock.

The proportion of children born to unmarried parents has risen by 33 percentage points since the start of the millenium, ISTAT added.

Reversing the decline in the birth rate is a stated top priority for the government of Premier Giorgia Meloni.

In the 2024 budget bill the State proposes to cover up to 3,000 euros a year in social-security contributions for working mothers with two children, with the youngest being under 10, and those with three children or more, with the youngest up to 18.

However, other measures in the same package such as raising VAT on baby products such as powdered milk and baby food might seem to go in the opposite direction.