A continuing and increasing demographic decline and, consequently, an increasingly aging society . The possibility that this year could also end with a record low number of new births in Italy, as in 2024 , seems increasingly likely "unless something extraordinary occurs."
This is the alarm sounded from the stage of the General States of Birth in Rome, where the seats in the Auditorium della Conciliazione were filled yesterday with young students. "It is to them that we owe the truth about the future that awaits them," emphasized the president of the Foundation for Birth, Gianluigi 'Gigi' De Palo, in his opening speech. And it is to them that President Mattarella then addressed, speaking of birth rate as "a vital issue for our country and for the entire European continent."
According to the Head of State, while it's true that "our society is aging" and "the fact that life expectancy is increasing should be seen as a success," "at the same time, it's not regenerating itself, or only partially. Young people are few, as has never been the case in history , except perhaps after devastating wars." Among the problems are job insecurity, the difficulty for young people in finding work and housing, and the need to access services. And in this sense, "the role of institutions is significant."
In 2024, the balance between births—less than 370,000—and deaths was negative by 281,000, as was recalled throughout the day. A loss equivalent to the entire population of the city of Venice . Added to these data is the fact that "the average number of children per woman in Italy has reached an all-time low: 1.13 in the first seven months of 2025." In 2024, it was 1.18, while in 2023, it was 1.2. This picture is also confirmed by the provisional, and more recent, data from Istat for the period January-August 2025: the drop in births was, in fact, 5.4% compared to the same months in 2024. Translated into numbers: 230,000 newborns, up to August 31.
"This year too, unless something extraordinary happens, we'll have another record low birth rate," he clarified. And this can only mean one thing: "That the number of our young people is decreasing."
To address the demographic winter with concrete solutions, the Birth Rate Agency was relaunched from the stage of the General Assembly, an initiative designed to "build a forum for discussion, study, and collaboration between institutions and civil society." "This is not an ideological battle, but the great national challenge," De Palo urged. "And if we want to guarantee Italy's future, we must all face it together."
(Unioneonline)