Census: Campania remains Italy's youngest region.
Istat: population decreases, Italians population is aging. The average age has increased by three years compared to 2011: 46 years
The population census in Italy as of December 31, 2021 amounts to 59.030.133 residents, down 0,3% compared to 2020 (-206.080 individuals).
This was reported by Istat in the third edition of the Permanent Census of Population and Housing, carried out in autumn 2021. The population decrease mainly affects Central Italy (-0,5%) and Northern Italy (-0,4% for both the North West and the North East), is more contained in Southern Italy (-0,2%) and is minimal in the Islands (just 3 thousand units less).
The impact of the number of deaths from Covid-19 on the demographic dynamics in 2021 is still high: the total number of deaths (701.346), although decreasing compared to the previous year (almost 39 thousand fewer deaths), remains significantly higher than the 2015-2019 average (+8,6%). The population decline is not only due to the negative natural balance but is partly attributable to the decrease in the foreign population.
The registered foreigners are 5.030.716 (-141.178 compared to 2020), with an incidence on the total population of 8,5 foreigners for every 100 registered. Rome is the largest municipality with 2.749.031 residents, Morterone (in the province of Lecco) the smallest (with just 31 inhabitants). The population decrease is much more limited in the municipalities of the 5-20 thousand inhabitants class and in the up to 5 thousand inhabitants class (which together represent 70% of Italian municipalities).
In the 44 municipalities with over 100 thousand inhabitants only 5 gain population, for the remaining 39 there is a decrease compared to the 2020 Census of about 115 thousand residents. Women represent 51,2% of the resident population, exceeding men by 1.392.221 units.
The masculinity ratio is 95,4 men for every 100 women; the highest is in Trentino-Alto Adige (97,7), the lowest in Liguria (92,6) which is also the region with the highest old age index (267,2). Ours is an increasingly older country. The average age has increased by three years compared to 2011 (from 43 to 46 years).
Campania continues to be the youngest region (average age of 43,6 years) while Liguria confirms itself as the oldest (49,4, years). The aging of the Italian population is even more evident in comparison with past censuses.
In 2021, there were 5,4 elderly people for every child, compared to less than one elderly person for every child in 1951 (3,8 in 2011). The old age index (ratio between the population aged 65 and over and the population aged under 15) has increased significantly and continues to grow, from 33,5% in 1951 to 187,6% in 2021 (148,7% in 2001).
The younger age structure of the foreign population slows down the aging process of the population resident in Italy. The average age of foreigners is more than 10 years lower than that of Italians (35,7 years versus 46 years in 2021). However, the relative weight of minors is decreasing, representing 20,8% of the census foreign population (a share equal to 21,3% in 2001).
Over the last 10 years, the number of illiterates, people who can read and write but have not completed a regular course of study, and those with a primary and secondary school diploma have been systematically decreasing. The most significant share of the population, equal to 36,3%, has a diploma (over 5 percentage points more than in 2011).
Between 2011 and 2021, illiterates halved (from 1,1% to 0,5%), the number of people who did not continue their studies after the first cycle of primary school decreased, and graduates (from 11,2% to 15,0%) and research doctors (from 0,3% to 0,5%) increased. At a territorial level, graduates are 17,2% in the Center, 15,3% in the North-West, 14,9% in the North-East, 13,8% in the South and 13% in the Islands.
The highest percentages of low educational qualifications are found in the South. With 19,1%, Lazio is the region with the highest incidence of graduates and PhDs (0,8%), contrasted by Puglia (12,9% and 0,3%), on a par with Valle D'Aosta/Vallée d'Aoste, Campania, Basilicata, Calabria and Sicily. The large municipalities, with more than 250 thousand residents, continue to be a pole of attraction for the most educated: the share of graduates registers a peak (29,1%) in Milan and Bologna, which have gained 2011 percentage points since 6.
More contained, but still above the national average of 15%, are the incidences of graduates in Palermo, Naples and Catania, which in ten years have grown between 2,5 and 3,2 percentage points. The 2021 census data are supplemented by information derived from the ad hoc survey conducted at the municipal registry offices on three specific segments of the population (not yet involved in the sample surveys of the Permanent Census), namely: a) people living in registered cohabitations; b) those residing in authorized camps or tolerated and spontaneous settlements; c) people without.
The bitterness is still there, but Elijf Elmas's words express above all a desire to bounce back. After Napoli's elimination in the Coppa Italia quarterfinals against Como, which came on penalties, the Italian midfielder is trying to turn the disappointment into energy for the championship. "It's tough to lose like this on penalties, because we know it's a lottery. We wanted to move forward, but it's understandable. Now we have to lift our heads and immediately think about the next match," he explained.
The Macedonian, however, looks beyond the final draw and returns to the ninety minutes, where he believes there was room to change the course of the evening. "We could have done something more. But they were good too. We played a game of intensity, of the highest level. There were moments when we could have closed it out, but today luck was on their side," he said, emphasizing how the team still exited to Maradona's applause. "They always support us, and that makes us even more disappointed to be eliminated from the Coppa Italia, because we give everything for this shirt and for these fans."
Sergi Roberto, one of the most experienced players in the Como dressing room, doesn't hide his pride in qualifying for the Coppa Italia semifinals, which came at the end of a lengthy penalty shootout against Napoli. "I'm very proud of this achievement. As a team, we're very united and we're working incredibly hard. I'm proud to be part of this family," said the midfielder, emphasizing the spirit that holds together a young but ambitious group.
The former Barcelona player then turned his attention to the emotional aspect of the evening. "Today there were a lot of young players who found themselves playing in a cup quarterfinal for the first time. I myself was incredibly nervous," he admitted, emphasizing the tension he experienced on the pitch before and during the penalty shootout. However, this tension was transformed into positive energy, capable of propelling Como past the obstacle of a heated stadium and a top-tier opponent.
Yesterday, in his homily, Father Giovanni Russo, parish priest of the "Santa Maria Assunta" church in Pompeii and chaplain of the Secondigliano prison, drew inspiration from the profound Gospel where Jesus reminds his disciples: "You are the salt and light of the Earth." He recalled the importance and joy of life, an invitation often extended to younger generations, including by the Pope...
EDITORIAL TEAM
Choose the social channel you want to subscribe to