Italy's birth rate drops to its lowest level in 150 years as economy tanks

  • Fewer babies were born in Italy in 2014 than in any other year since 1861
  • Number of live births last year was 509,000 - 5,000 fewer than previous year
  • Births per 1,000 people living in Italy is 8.4, down from 38.3 150 years ago
  • Babies born to natives and foreigners dropped as immigration tumbled

By Jenny Stanton For Mailonline

Published: | Updated:

Italy's birth rate has dropped to its lowest in more than 150 years amid a sluggish economy.

Fewer babies were born in Italy in 2014 than in any other year since the modern Italian state was formed in 1861, new figures have revealed.

2013 European birth rate: The number of live births last year was 509,000 - 5,000 fewer than in 2013 - rounding off half a century of decline

2013 European birth rate: The number of live births last year was 509,000 - 5,000 fewer than in 2013 - rounding off half a century of decline

National statistics office ISTAT said the number of live births last year was 509,000 - 5,000 fewer than in 2013 - rounding off half a century of decline.

The number of births per 1,000 people is now at 8.4, down from 38.3 150 years ago, according to The Daily Telegraph.

Babies born to both natives and foreigners living in Italy dropped as immigration, which used to support the overall birth rate, tumbled to its lowest level for five years.  

The figures have been released after the Pope branded couples who choose not have children 'selfish' and are part of a 'greedy generation', earlier this week. 

The pontiff said it was a 'depressed society' that considered offspring to be a weight or a risk.

Pope Francis made the remarks in front of a large crowd during his weekly general audience in St Peter's Square, Rome.

Addressing the crowd, he said life 'rejuvenates' when children arrive and they 'enrich it'.

EUROPEAN BIRTH RATES IN 2013
COUNTRY  BIRTH RATE
Azerbaijan 18.3
Turkey 16.8 
Ireland 15.0 
Armenia13.8
France 12.3 
Albania 12.3 
UK 12.2 
Montenegro 12
Sweden 11.8 
Norway 11.6
Luxembourg 11.3 
Belgium 11.2 
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia11.2 
Ukraine 11.1
Cyprus 10.8 
Finland 10.7
Moldova 10.6 
Estonia 10.3 
Czech Republic 10.2
Latvia 10.2 
 Based on the number of births during the year to the average population in that year. The value is expressed per 1,000 inhabitants. *Eurostat 
RANKED FROM HIGHEST TO LOWEST
COUNTRY             BIRTH RATE 
Netherlands            10.2 
Latvia           10.2
Netherlands            10.2 
Slovenia            10.2 
Switzerland            10.2 
Lithuania            10.1 
Slovakia            10.1 
Denmark            10.0 
Poland            9.6 
Malta            9.5 
Croatia            9.4 
Austria            9.4 
Bulgaria            9.2 
Hungary            9.2 
Liechtenstein            9.2 
Serbia            9.2 
Spain            9.1 
Romania            8.8 
Estonia           8.5 
Greece            8.5 
Italy            8.5 
Portugal            7.0 

'A society with a greedy generation, that doesn't want to surround itself with children, that considers them above all worrisome, a weight, a risk, is a depressed society,' he said, the Guardian reported.

'The choice to not have children is selfish. Life rejuvenates and acquires energy when it multiplies: It is enriched, not impoverished.' 

The Pope previously apologised for offending large Catholic families when he said there was no need to breed 'like rabbits'.

He caused dismay among larger families last month when he cautioned 'responsible parenthood' advising that three children was 'about right'.

Speaking during a press conference on a flight back from the Philippines, he said: 'Some think that in order to be good Catholics we have to be like rabbits. No. Responsible parenthood.'

Vatican Archbishop Giovanni Becciu apologised on Pope Francis' behalf by saying 'the Pope is truly sorry' that his remarks about large families 'caused such disorientation'.

Archbishop Becciu told the Italian bishop's newspaper Avvenire that the pope 'absolutely did not want to disregard the beauty and the value of large families.' 


ITALY'S DECLINING BIRTH RATES OVER 10 YEARS FROM 2002 TO 2013
YEAR  20132012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 
BIRTH RATE  8.5 9.0 9.2 9.5 9.6 9.8 9.7 9.6 9.6 9.8
Based on the number of births during the year to the average population in that year. The value is expressed per 1,000 inhabitants. *Eurostat

According to European statistics website Eurostat's most recent figures, Azerbaijan had the highest birth rate in the EU at a whopping 18.3 per 1,000 inhabitants. 

Turkey comes in next at 16.8 per 1,000 and Ireland follows closely behind at 15. The UK is close to the top of the list with 12.2 per 1,000. 

While at the bottom with just 7 per 1,000 people is Portugal after Estonia, Greece, and Italy at 8.5.

The mortality rate also declined in Italy last year, stretching life expectancy for Italian men to 80.2 years, and to 84.9 years for women. 

Developed countries the world over are counting the cost of an ageing population, such as rising pension payouts and healthcare costs, but Italy, now in its third recession in six years, is particularly vulnerable.

The government of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi is scrambling to give the economy a boost by reforming the sclerotic labour market and persuading the country's youth not to migrate and work abroad. 

The demographic picture varies wildly between Italy's regions, with the autonomous northern area of Trentino-Alto Adige enjoying a total fertility rate of 1.65.

The population is shrinking in most of the poorer south, where per-capita gross domestic product is about half that in the centre and north. 

Birth rates: Italy's birth rate has dropped to its lowest rate in more than 150 years and earlier this week, Pope Francis branded couples who choose not to have children 'selfish'
The Pope previously apologised for offending large Catholic families when he said there was no need to breed 'like rabbits'

The Pope previously apologised for offending large Catholic families when he said there was no need to breed 'like rabbits'

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