According to provisional data, the downwards trend also seems to be continuing in 2023.
In the first half of 2023 there was a 1.9 per cent reduction in the birth rate, equal to 3500 fewer babies born compared to the first half of 2022, the national statistics agency said.
Istat added that the number of births has been falling uninterruptedly for 15 years, dropping by 31.8 per cent from the record peak of 576,659 births in 2008 to the present level.
The contribution to the birth rate of the foreign population in Italy also seems to be waning, Istat said.
In addition, the statistics agency said 41.5 per cent of the children born in Italy in 2022, or 163,317, were born out of wedlock.
The proportion of children born to unmarried parents has risen by 33 percentage points since the start of the millennium, Istat added.
Reversing the decline in the birth rate is a stated top priority for the government of Giorgia Meloni.
In the 2024 budget bill the State proposes to cover up to 3000 euros a year in social-security contributions for working mothers with two children with the youngest being under 10, and for those with three children or more with the youngest being up to 18.
However, other measures in the same package, such as raising VAT on baby products like powdered milk and baby food, might go in the opposite direction.
ANSA
