Population, in Italy 1.2 million more women than men. Campania is the youngest region

The masculinity ratio is lowest, albeit slightly, in Liguria. For every 100 women, there are 93.9 men. The highest, however, is in Molise (98.6), followed by Trentino-Alto Adige (98.3).

In 3,130 municipalities, however, the number of men exceeds the number of women. The record is in the municipality of Salza di Pinerolo, which, with just 61 residents, has a masculinity ratio of 190.5.

The ageing of the population is common to all territories. The Campania continues to be the youngest region with an average age of 44.5 years, albeit with a constant increase (it was 44.2 in 2023 and 43.9 in 2022). Liguria remains the oldest region, with an average age of 49.6 years, followed by Sardinia (49.2 years).

Ordona, in the province of Foggia, is the youngest municipality in Italy, with an average age of 37.6 years, while Villa Santa Lucia degli Abruzzi (L'Aquila), with only 83 inhabitants, has the highest average age of 65.2 years.

The decrease in population mainly affects the Municipalities with more than 100 thousand inhabitants and the smaller ones up to 5 thousand. In the former, there is an overall negative balance compared to 2023 of 17 thousand individuals. Rome, with 2,747,290 residents, is the municipality with the largest population and, like last year, shows a negative change (-4,457 individuals).

Among the smaller municipalities, which account for about 70% of the municipalities with 16.4% of the total population, just under 6 out of 10 are losing population, with an overall negative balance of 15,000 individuals by 2023.

By contrast, in municipalities with 20 thousand to 50 thousand inhabitants and in those with 50 thousand to 100 thousand inhabitants, more than half lost population compared to the previous year (54.7% and 53.8% respectively). On the other hand, in municipalities with 5,000 to 20,000 inhabitants, more than half (51.4%) register a positive change, with an overall balance of +5,000 residents.

In general, Istat confirms the decline in the population to 58,943,464 individuals. Compared to the same date in 2023, there is a slight decrease of 27,766 units, equal to -0.5 per thousand. The decline in population on a national basis reflects non-homogeneous territorial dynamics, which see more intense relative decreases in the South (-2.5 per thousand) and in the Islands (-2.8 per thousand) and a smaller decrease in the Centre (-1.0 per thousand). On the contrary, increases were observed in the North-West and North-East (+1.4 and +1.2 per thousand respectively).

On 31 December 2024, the average age of the population was 46.9 years, up by more than three months compared to 2023. Compared to the same date in the previous year, the share of individuals aged 0-14 years dropped from 12.2 % to 11.9 %. The population of working age (15-64), at 63.4 per cent, is further reduced by a tenth of a point, while the population aged 65 and over is growing, from 24.3 per cent to 24.7 per cent. The number of the very old (85 years and over) is also on the rise, reaching 2.410 million individuals (+90 thousand in one year) and representing 4.1% of the total population.

A decrease mitigated, in part, by the foreign presence. Resident foreigners amount to 5,371,251 individuals (+22.4 per thousand compared to 2023) and their incidence on the total resident population reaches 9.1% (it was 8.9% in 2023).