Page last modified 18 August 2023

117) Italy

Community

Area 301,340 square kilometres (land area 294,140 square kilometres)

Historical area

259,320 square kilometres (1861)

274,527 square kilometres (1866)

286,610 square kilometres (1871)

310,120 square kilometres (1919)

Population,

10,000,000 (AD 1)

4,000,000 (AD 600)

4,000,000 (AD 800)

5,000,000 (1000)

7,800,000 (1200)

9,300,000 (1340)

10,000,000 (1500)

11,000,000 (1650)

13,400,000 (1700)

15,500,000 (1750)

19,000,000 (1800)

21,777,000 (1861)¹

25,756,000 (1861)²

27,577,640 (1871)

29,277,927 (1881)

30,913,663 (1895)

33,778,000 (1901)

36,921,000 (1911)

37,856,000 (1921)

41,043,000 (1931)

42,993,602 (1936)³

47,516,000 (1951)⁴

49,750,000 (1960)

53,580,000 (1970) +7.7%

56,420,000 (1980) +5.3%

56,720,000 (1990) +0.5%

56,950,000 (2000) +0.4%

59,277,000 (2010) +4.0%

59,554,000 (2020) +0.5%

¹Population within Italian borders as in 1861

²Population in 1861 within 2010 borders of Italy

³Without considerable net emigration 1881-1936 the population would have been around 48,000,000 in 1936.

⁴1936 population within 1951 borders, 42,100,000

Average annual emigration from Italy

98,128 (1875)

164,969 (1885)

242,518 (1895)

541,079 (1905)

339,829 (1915)

225,943 (1925)

58,021 (1935)

62,124 (1945)

232,701 (1953)

Ethnicity and Religion, %. In 2009, the non-Italian population of Italy amounted to 7.0% of the entire population. Of these, 54.0% were from other European countries (mainly Albania, Poland, Romania and Ukraine). 22.0% were from Africa, 16.0%, from Asia, and 8.0% from the Americas.� 87.0% of these non-Italians lived in northern� Italy and 13.0% lived in southern Italy.

	Italian	Christian R C	Jewish	Muslim	No Religion
1870			0.1
1900	99.7	99.7	0.1		0.1
1911					2.5
1931		99.6	0.1
1947		99.6	0.1
1960		99.0
1975	99.0	90.8	0.1	0.1	7.0
1991	99.1	83.0			16.0
2001	98.0	81.1		1.2	16.8
2010	93.0	83.3		3.7	12.4
2016	91.7

Birth and death rates Below replacement rate = 2.1

	Fertility Rate	Birth Rate	Infant Mortality	Death Rate	% Aged Under 15	% Aged Over 65	% Urban
1865		37.6 (+7.3)		30.3
1871			227.0		33.0
1872				30.8
1874		36.8 (+6.3)		30.5
1881		38.1
1883		38.0 (+10.7)	205.0	27.3			23.6
1893		36.0 (+10.8)	176.0	25.2
1895N*		33.2 (+9.5)		23.7
1895S*		37.2 (+9.2)		29.0
1902		33.2 (+11.0)		22.2
1903		32.7 (+10.7)	170.0	22.0	34.1
1913		31.5 (+11.8)		19.7			31.3
1923		29.8 (+12.4)		17.4
1933	2.3	23.8 (+9.7)	105.0	14.1
1938			104.0**
1940	2.1
1945			99.0
1952	1.9	18.0 (+3.0)	60.0	15.0	26.3	8.3	44.0
1962	1.7	19.0 (+9.0)	41.0	10.0	24.9	9.8	60.4
1972	1.7	16.0 (+6.4)	26.4	9.6	24.5	11.5	65.0
1980	1.6	11.0 (+1.2)	14.3	9.8	22.0	13.3	66.6
1990	1.3	10.4 (+0.8)	8.4	9.6	16.5	14.9	66.7
2000	1.3	9.2 (-0.6)	4.8	9.8	14.3	18.1	67.2
2010	1.4	9.2 (-0.7)	3.4	9.9	14.0	20.5	68.3
2015	1.4	8.0 (-2.7)	2.9	10.7	13.7	22.4	69.0
2017	1.3	7.6 (-3.1)	2.7	10.7
2018			2.6		13.3	22.8	70.4

*N, S = North and South

**1938; regional variations in infant mortality ranged from 64.1 in Liguria in the north to 149.0 in Basilicata in the south.

Life expectancy,

36.0 (1881); 36.2 (M), 35.7 (F)

42.8 (1901); 42.6 (M), 43.0 (F)

47.0 (1911); 46.6 (M), 47.3 (F)

50.0 (1921); 49.3 (M), 50.8 (F)

54.9 (1933); 53.8 (M), 56.0 (F)

66.2 (1952); 64.0 (M), 68.0 (F)

69.1 (1960); 66.7 (M), 71.7 (F)

71.6 (1970); 68.7 (M), 74.6 (F)

73.9 (1980); 70.7 (M), 77.4 (F)

77.0 (1990); 73.8 (M), 80.3 (F)

79.8 (2000); 76.9 (M), 82.8 (F)

82.0 (2010); 79.5 (M), 84.7 (F)

83.6 (2020); 81.4 (M), 85.6 (F)

Population of principal cities, 1,000s

	Bologna	Florence	Genoa	Milan	MA	Naples	MA
200 AD				40
1115			50
1200		50		90		40
1300		120	100			60
1750	66	74	72	123		324
1850	78	115	120	193		416
1872	115	167	257	270		490
1881	104	190	289	322		463
1891		185		432		522
1901	152	236	377	490		621
1911		258	465	595		751
1921		280	542	718		859
1931		304	591	961		831
1936	233	321	634	1,115		865
1951	351	374	687	1,277	2,319	1,024	1,925
1960	434	437	764	1,581		1,180
1970	520	457	930	1,750		1,259
1980	459	448	763	1,605		1,212
1991	404	403	679	1,370		1,067
2001	371	356	610	1,256	3,822	1,004	3,047
2011		358	608	1,242		957
2016		383	600	1,368		980	3.115
2017	1,010 MA			1,363

Population of principal cities, 1,000s

	Palermo	ROME	MA	Trieste	Turin^1	Venice^2
0 AD		200
50 AD	1,000
100		650
300		1400
650	40
1050						45
1200		25				70
1300		10*
1350		20*				110
1450						200
1600		100
1700					40
1750	124	157			60	158
1790		165
1810				30	138
1850	182	170				141
1864	187	195			225
1870	220	226
1880	240	276		145
1890				158
1901	306	463		179	336	152
1911	340	520			427
1921	398	660		240	518
1931	380	930		250	590
1936	411	1,562		248	608	171
1951	503	1,701	2,600	270	722	322
1960	596	2,020		273	963	347
1970	688	2,920		292	1,175	383
1981	702	2,840		252	1,117	346
1991	698	2,775		213	963	399
2001	687	2,733	2,826	211	865	271
2009	872	2,703	3,357	206
2013				204		265
2016	1,300 MA
2017		2,876	4,357		887
	Palermo	ROME	MA	Trieste	Turin^1	Venice^2

*Rome�s population reduced by warfare and Black Death.

¹The name �Turin� derives from the Taurini tribe, conquered by the Romans.

¹The railway arrived in Venice in 1846; with its 3 km causeway, Venice was no longer an island. A parallel road causeway was built in 1932.

Wealth; Gross Domestic Product (nominal values)

	GDP, US$ million	Total GDP, % of USA	GDP per capita, US$	GDP per capita % of USA
1914	4,000		108
1948	10,900	4.88	225	14.75
1956	18,140	5.14
1960	40,400	7.44	805	26.77
1965	68,000	9.14	1,304	34.06
1970	103,700	9.97	2,100	40.02
1975	212,620	13.00	4,090	52.30
1980	453,820	16.23	8,058	63.96
1985	426,230	10.12	7,569	41.43
1990	1,102,440	19.00	20,750	86.62
1995	1,097,210	14.83	20,600	68.51
2000	1,076,900	10.81	20,050	55.01
2005	1,723,000	13.16	33,410	75.40
2010	2,061,000	13.77	35,850	74.11
2015	1,825,000	10.12	30,050	53.46
2016	1,850,000	9.96	30,525	53.12

GDP by primary sector

	Agriculture % GDP	Agriculture % employed	Industry % GDP	Industry % employed	Services % GDP	Services % employed
1900		60.0		23.0		17.0
1910		55.0
1920		56.0
1930		47.0		31.0		22.0
1940		46.0
1950	42.0	43.0	27.0	29.0
1960		31.0	44.0	40.0		30.0
1970	22.0	19.0
1980		11.0		43.0		44.0
1990	3.5	8.5	34.0	31.0	62.5	60.0
2000	2.6	5.0	27.5	32.0	69.0	62.0
2010	1.8	3.9	24.0	29.0	65.1	68.0
2016	2.1		24.1		73.8

Communications

Language Official; Italian French and German also spoken

	French	German	Italian	Sardinian
1990	0.3%	0.5%	94.1%	2.7%
2003			92.8%

Literacy

27.0% (1861); 35.0% (M), 19.0% (F)

32.2% (1871); 38.1% (M), 24.3% (F)

48.5% (1901); 57.0% (M), 40.0% (F)

62.1% (1911)

87.1% (1961)

94.8% (1980); 96.0% (M), 93.7% (F)

97.1% (1990); 98.0% (M), 96.3% (F)

98.5% (2000); 98.9% (M), 98.1% (F)

98.9% (2010); 99.1% (M), 98.6% (F)

99.2% (2015); 99.4% (M), 99.0% (F)

There have been large regional variations in Italian literacy. In 1871 literacy stood at 57.7% in Piedmont in the north, but at only 17.0% in Sardinia and 12.0% in Basilicata in the south. Overall, literacy in northern Italy stood at 41.0% compared to 15.9% in the south, in 1871.

In 1914, literacy in the north was around 88%, but only 60% in the south.

In 1948 northern literacy was up to 95.0%, but stood at 76.0% in the south.

Physical communications � roads

	Roads (km)	Motor vehicles	Cars	Commercial Vehicles
1912			12,400
1922			47,000
1938			340,000
1940	204,566		400,000
1947				125,154
1950			342,021	229,277
1956		1,440,000	1,051,000
1959				430,415
1961			2,443,900	489,012
1964		5,319,900
1970	283,596	11,300,000
1971			10,344,000
1975			15,000,000
1976	291,864
1977			16,650,000	1,244,500
1980	294,462	25,490,000	17,500,000	1,250,000
1990	303,000		27,415,828	3,000,000
1996	316,400	38,586,000	32,789,000
2001	482,000	40,743,777	33,239,029	3,541,545
2003	484,688
2005		47,104,048	34,882,470
2010	490,361		36,751,000
2013		51,270,000
2014			37,081,000

Railways; First railway in Italy opened October 1839; line between Naples and Portici, 8 kilometres. Other early lines include:-

Milan to Monza, 13 km, opened 1840.

Padua to Mestre, 33km, opened 1842.

	Length (km)	% electrified
1840	19
1850	618
1860	2,370
1870	6,345
1880	8,953
1890	12,196
1900	14,381
1910	15,282
1920	16,177
1930	16,787
1940	23,300	28.2
1951	21,651
1955	21,923	28.2
1959	21,281	33.6
1961	21,143
1968	20,358	39.3
1980	19,719
1990	19,600	50.0
1995	19,485	52.4
2008	19,729	57.8
2014	20,182	65.2

Urban metro systems, kilometres (year opened)

	1991	2002	2010	2015
Catania (1999)		3.8		8.8
Genoa (1990)	2.3	5.3		7.1
Milan (1964)	68.0		87.0	101.0
Naples (1993)				20.2
Rome (1955)	33.5		38.0	66.0
Turin (2006)			8.2	8.2

Electronic communications, TV broadcasting began 1954

	Telephones (landlines)	Mobile Telephones	Radios	Televisions	PCs	Internet Users
1924			24,000
1931			176,000^1
1932			300,000
1938	424,079		1,124,145
1942	835,700		1,596,431
1950	1,244,152		3,185,000
1958				1,096,125
1959	3,182,455		7,300,000
1960			8,005,000	2,124,000
1961	4,028,058		8,488,000	2,762,000
1967	7,754,064		11,510,447	7,665,959
1977			13,193,000	12,646,000
1978	11,000,000			13,400,609
1980	13,020,000
1985		6,415
1986					535,000
1990	22,350,000	266,000	45,500,000	24,200,000	2,100,000
1995		3,923,000	45,500,000	25,500,000	4,800,000	1,800,000
1997			50,500,000			2,300,000
2000	27,150,000	24,246,000		28,300,000	10,300,000
2002						19,900,000
2005		72,200,000			21,486,000	27,900,000
2010	21,600,000					33,300,000
2016	20,267,172	85,956,000				38,025,000

¹Mussolini used radio to broadcast to the Italian nation, however Italy was a poor country and very few had radios. Half of these 176,000 radios were in urban areas. Mussolini organised the distribution of some 40,000 free radios to Italian schools so more schoolchildren could hear his voice.

Tourism: Visitors to Italy,

28,800,000 (1968)

47,700,000 (1980)

26,679,000 (1990)

31,052,000 (1995)

41,181,000 (2000)

36,513,000 (2005)

43,626,000 (2010)

50,732,000 (2015)