In the 2021/2022 school year, 13,518 nurseries and supplementary services for early childhood are active and more than 350,000 places are authorized (48.8 per cent of which are under public ownership).

There has been a partial recovery in the supply of after the pandemic, while the supplementary services for early childhood have suffered a further drop of 2,000 places. ISTAT's recent report on early childhood education services shows that the overall educational supply is substantially stable compared to the previous year.

The data, for the 2021/2022 education year, reveal that the percentage of place coverage with respect to residents between the ages of zero and two years reaches 28%, a slight increase (0.8%) with respect to 2020/2021, due to the decline in births and the consequent reduction in potential beneficiaries of the service.

Umbria is the region with the highest level of coverage (43.7%), followed by Emilia Romagna (41.6%), Valle d'Aosta and the Autonomous Province of Trento (41.1%).

Tuscany, Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Lazio are above the 33% threshold (38.4%, 36.8% and 36.1%). On the other hand, among the southern regions, Campania, Sicily and Calabria (11.7%, 13% and 14.6% respectively) are still below 15%, while Sardinia, with 32.5%, has the highest level.

The document is available on the ISTAT website, on the dedicated page.

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