Italy's fertility rate fell to a new low of 1.14 children per woman in 2025 -- one of the lowest levels in the world, official data released on Tuesday showed.

The figures are the latest sign of Italy's rapidly ageing population.

The report from the Istat agency also showed that Italy has some of the highest life expectancy rates in Europe -- 81.7 years for men and 85.7 years for women.

Sociologist Chiara Saraceno told AFP women were putting off having children out of financial considerations because of "precarious conditions for young people".

"It is even harder for women because, in Italy, the division of domestic labour remains highly unequal.

"Nobody here says anymore that 'mums shouldn’t work', but they are expected to look after the children," she said.

Italy was one of the 10 countries with the lowest fertility rates along with China, Japan and Poland, according to a World Bank ranking using data from 2023.

Fertility rates in the EU as a whole fell from 1.57 children per woman in 2010 to 1.34 in 2024.

In Italy, the region with the lowest fertility rate was Sardinia with an average of 0.85 children per woman.

The size of the population in 2025 compared with 2024 remained broadly stable thanks to immigration.

The population of foreign residents grew by 188,000 while the Italian resident population was down by 189,000.

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