The Italian National Statistics Office, Istat, has published Noi Italia, a collection of one hundred up to date statistics which will help Italians and others to understand the country and I must say, some of these make very interesting reading:
With a population of 60,600,000, Italy saw a fall in both the number of births and deaths on its territory last year, with the greater decrease being in the number of births, at an average of 1.4 children per woman. The slight recovery in the birth rate seems to have ended and the number of people over 65 is now equivalent to 20.3% of the population. This year 2.8% of the population are over 85 and the number of centenarians has tripled since 2001, to 16,000.
Life expectancy in Italy is the third highest in Europe, with only Sweden and Spain doing better. The national average is 79.1 years for men and 84.3 years for women. There are some interesting regional variations, with men in the Marche living the longest [79.8 years] whilst the most long-lived women are those resident in Trento-Alto Adige [85.3 years]. The lowest life expectancy for both sexes is in the Campania region [77.5 years for men and 82.8 years for women] whilst the gap between male and female life expectancy is narrowest here in Sicily [77.5 years for men and 82.8 years for women].
The number of foreigners living in Italy is estimated at 4,563,000, an increase of 328,000 on the January 2009 figure. Of these, Romanians comprise the largest community of 890,000 with Albanians, numbering 467,000, comprising the second and the country's 432,000 Moroccans the third. The Chinese form the largest Asiatic population within Italy and Ukrainians form the fifth largest community. Foreigners from other EU countries number 1.2 million.
The regions of Emilia-Romagna, Umbria, Lombardy and Veneto have the highest numbers of foreign residents while the South as a whole has fewer. Sardinia, where foreigners make up only 2% of the population, has the fewest.
Shown as a percentage of the population as a whole, the number of foreign residents in Italy, at 6.5%, is strikingly similar to the UK total, at 6.6%. Does this perhaps tell us something about the desirability of living in both countries?
3 comments:
These are very interesting statistic. Italy is a country I would love to live in for part of each year! I'd like to be able to alternate three months in CA with three months in Italy, then return to CA for three months and spend another three months somewhere else. Just wish my budget would permit this!
Are there many Chinese immigrants? I see that the Chinese population of Spain is now 270,000
Hi, Nerys. bYes, more than we'd think! Hi, Carmen. That sounds an ideal lifestyle to me! Hi, WW. Yes, a fair number and they are giving the Italians a run for their money re clothes shops, etc.
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