By Valentina Consiglio
ROME, March 31 (Reuters) - Italy's population has stabilised after 12 years of decline, with immigration almost entirely offsetting a shrinking number of births, while life expectancy continues to rise, national statistics agency ISTAT said on Tuesday.
Preliminary data showed the resident population stood at 58.94 million on January 1 this year, virtually unchanged from a year earlier, ISTAT said in its annual demographic report.
"Italy remains a country where only very positive net migration can offset a largely negative natural change and where the population continues to age," the statistics bureau said.
Without a sustained inflows of migrants the population will resume shrinking, intensifying long‑term pressures on the labour market and public finances, it added.
The influx of immigrants has taken place under the right-wing government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who has taken a tough line on undocumented migrants while also increasing work visas for non-EU citizens.
BIRTHS DROP TO A NEW RECORD LOW
Births dropped to 355,000 in 2025, down 3.9% from the previous year to a new record low since the country's unification in 1861, while deaths held broadly steady at 652,000, yielding a negative balance of close to 300,000 people.
Fertility fell further to an average of 1.14 children per woman, among the lowest levels in Europe and well below the replacement rate of 2.1, reflecting delayed parenthood and a shrinking pool of potential parents.
Net immigration stood at 296,000, with arrivals from abroad reaching 440,000, while emigration fell sharply to 144,000, the lowest level recorded in the past decade.
The foreign resident population rose by 188,000 to 5.56 million.
Life expectancy increased further after the COVID-19 pandemic years, reaching 81.7 years for men and 85.7 for women, placing Italy among the longest-living countries in the European Union, ISTAT said.
(Reporting by Valentina Consiglio, editing by Gavin Jones)
