File photo: Tourists pose in front of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy (Picture credit: AP)
Italy’s population is projected to shrink by almost 4 million people by 2050, with a rapidly ageing population posing fresh challenges for the country’s economy and welfare system, according to new projections released by the national statistics bureau ISTAT on Monday.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had made boosting the birth rate a government priority after taking office in 2022, but births have continued to fall.
A shrinking pool of workers alongside a growing number of pensioners will pose “new challenges to the economic system and welfare,” ISTAT said. ISTAT had said that without sustained migration inflows, Italy’s population would resume shrinking, adding to long-term pressure on the labour market and public finances.
Italy’s resident population is expected to fall to 55 million by 2050, from 58.9 million at the start of 2025, before declining further to 45.8 million by 2080, ISTAT said, according to Reuters.