Country Sheet : Italy

Information file

Last Update on 16th December 2024

ITALY

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In English - version of 16th December 2024

Geography

Area : 301,340 km²

Borders : 1,899.2 km: Austria 430 km, France 488 km, Holy See (Vatican City) 3.2 km, San Marino 39 km, Slovenia 199 km, Switzerland 740 km

Coastline : 7,600 km

Capital : Rome

Official language : Italian

Flag

Population

Population : 59,342,867 (2024)

Crude natural change rate : -4.8‰ (2023 est.)

Population repartition: 12.4% under 15 years old, 24% over 65 years old (2023)

Foreign residents: 2% EU nationals, 6% non-EU nationals (2021)

Crude net migration rate: 4.6‰ (2023 est.)

First time asylum applicants: 135,820 (2023)

Life expectancy: men 81.7 years, women 85.8 years (2023)

Religions: Christian 80.8% (overwhelmingly Roman Catholic with very small groups of Jehovah's Witnesses and Protestants), Muslim 4.9%, unaffiliated 13.4%, other 0.9% (2020 est.)

Ethnic groups: Italian, small clusters of German, French, and Slovenian in the north and Albanian and Greek in the south

Source : Eurostat, CIA World fact Book, Worldometers

Economy

Currency: Euro

GDP: € 2,128,001.8 million (2023)

GDP per capita (PPS): € 28,880 (2023)

GDP growth : 0.7% (2023)

Inflation: 1.8% (November 2024)

Public debt: 137% of GDP (Q2 2024)

Unemployment: 5.8% (October 2024)

Stock of foreign direct investment from the entire world: 22% of GDP (2023)

Budget balance: -7.39% of GDP (2023)

Source : Eurostat, Trading economics, OCDE, Données mondiales

Political system

Republic, parliamentary democracy

Head of State: Sergio Mattarella, elected on January 31st 2015 for seven years and reelected for a second mandate on January 29th 2022.

President of the Council: Giorgia Meloni (Fratelli d'Italia) since the snap elections of 25 September 2022. She was appointed President of the Council by the President of the Republic on October 21st 2022 and has formed a right-wing government.

Bicameral parliamentary regime The Camera dei deputati (Chamber of Deputies) is composed of 400 deputies, elected for five years by direct universal suffrage. The Senato della Repubblica (Senate) comprises 200 members who are elected for five years by direct universal suffrage plus senators elected for life (currently 6).

Political representation

Composition of the Camera dei deputati (in December 2024):

117 seats Fratelli d'Italia (Brothers of Italy, far-right)
70 seats Partito Democratico - Italia Democratica e Progressista (Democratic Party)
65 seats Lega - Salvini Premier (League, far-right)
50 seats Movimento 5 Stelle (Five Star Movement, left-wing populism)
48 seats Forza Italia - Berlusconi Presidente - PPE (Forward Italy, center-right and liberal-conservative)
13 seats Mixed : 6 seats non-party independants, 4 seats for linguistic minorities, 3 seats +Europa (More Europe)
10 seats Alleanza Verdi i Sinistra (The Greens and Left Alliance
10 seats Azione - Popolari Europeisti Riformatori - Renew Europe (Action - Populist European Reformers)
10 seats Noi Moderati-MAIE-Centro Popolare (Us moderates)
7 seats Italia Viva-il Centro-Renew Europe (Living Italy, the center)

Composition of the Senato della Repubblica (in December 2024):

63 seats Brothers of Italy
37 seats Partito Democratico
29 seats Lega Salvini Premier - Partito Sardo d'Azione (League and the Sardinian Party of Action)
26 seats Movimento 5 Stelle
20 seats Forza Italia - Berlusconi Presidente - PPE
9 seats Mixed
8 seats Civici-Noi Moderati-MAIE-Centro Popolare
7 seats Italia Viva-il Centro-Renew Europe
6 seats for Autonomies (SVP-PATT, Campobase)