Italy's births fall to record low of 355,772 in 2025, and 2026 keeps dropping

A record low in 2025

Istat, Italy's national statistics agency, said in a report on births and fertility published on 21 October 2026 that 355,772 babies were born in the country in 2025. That is about 14,000 fewer than in 2024, a fall of 3.8%. Births have been declining since 2008, when more than 576,000 children were born, the highest figure of the 2000s. Since then the number has dropped by 38.3%, a reduction of over 220,000 births. Istat also recorded the resident population at 58,949,500 on 31 July 2026, up 7,000 from the start of the year.

Fewer children per woman

The average number of children per woman dropped to 1.14 in 2025, a new low, from 1.18 in 2024. Istat's provisional estimate for January to July 2026 is 1.13. Mothers had their first child at an average age of 32. The pattern varies by education: women with a university degree averaged 1.09 children at a mean age of 34.9, compared with 1.58 children at 29.7 years for women with a lower secondary school certificate. By birth order, first children fell 3.7% in 2025, second children 4.8% and third or later children 2.1%, with the drop in first and second births steeper in southern Italy. Istat links part of the decline to a shrinking pool of potential parents born from the 1980s onward, and part to a lower tendency to have children.

Births in 2026 so far

Between January and July 2026, 196,864 babies were born in Italy, 1.1% fewer than the 198,975 recorded in the same months of 2025. Istat described the fall as less steep than the one recorded the previous year. These figures are provisional. The decline in the first seven months of 2026 is smaller than the 3.8% drop recorded for the full year 2025.

Births outside marriage

In 2025, 44.1% of babies were born outside marriage, up from 43.2% a year earlier. Tgcom reported 156,874 births outside marriage, while births to married couples fell below 200,000. The drop was steeper among married parents, at 5.4%, than among unmarried parents, at 1.8%. For the first time, births outside marriage in Central Italy exceeded half the total, at 50.1%, against 43.1% in the North and 42.3% in the South. Istat also reported that 7.3% of newborns received a double surname, both the father's and the mother's, up from 6.7% in 2024. Sofia and Leonardo were the most chosen names for girls and boys respectively.

Government response

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has called reversing the falling birth rate an absolute priority, and her government has introduced support measures for families along with means-tested tax breaks for working mothers. The statistics agency said births look set to fall further this year.