Italy's Aging Population in 2023: Key Statistics
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Rome, Dec 17 (NationPress) The demographic landscape of Italy further tilted towards an older population in 2023, revealing a significant gap between the number of elderly individuals and children, as reported by the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT).
As of December 31, 2023, the median age in Italy reached 46.6 years, reflecting a 0.2 percent increase compared to the previous year, according to ISTAT's recently published census data.
From 2022 to 2023, the percentage of the population aged 0-14 decreased to 12.2 percent from 12.4 percent. The demographic segment aged 15-64 held steady at 63.5 percent, while the number of individuals over 65 years rose to 24.3 percent, up from 24 percent.
ISTAT highlighted the aging trend by examining the ratio of individuals aged 65 and older to those under 6 years: "In 2023, there were 5.8 elderly people for every child nationwide." This figure increased from 5.6 in 2022 and is substantially higher than 3.8 in 2011.
The total population of Italy experienced a decline of roughly 26,000 people (approximately 0.4 per 1000), bringing the total to 58.9 million by the end of 2023, as reported by ISTAT. In contrast, the non-Italian resident population expanded by 21.8 per 1000, increasing their share of the total population from 8.7 percent in 2022 to 8.9 percent.
Among the 27 EU member states, Italy ranked as the oldest in 2023, based on earlier statistics from Eurostat.
As of January 1, 2024, the overall population of the EU rose by over 1.6 million, totaling an estimated 449.2 million people. However, this growth was not uniform, with increases in 20 EU countries and declines in seven, including Italy, Greece, and Poland.
