Births in our country continue to decline: in 2018 there were 449,000 births, 9,000 less than the previous lowest recorded in 2017. This is a finding in Istat's Demographic Indicators report, which contains estimates for the year 2018.

The data show that in just ten years, from 2008 to 2018, births decreased by 128 ,000. "On the issue, - the report explains, - not only personal choices to have or not to have children or to postpone the decision to the future have had an impact, but also dynamics of structural nature, in the sense that demographic inertia is now such that it leads to progressively fewer potential mothers and older mothers than before."

Among the factors related to the birth rate, the drop in births to Italian mothers weighs particularly heavily, 358,000 in 2018 and 8,000 less than the previous year.

Births to foreign nationals are estimated at 91,000, accounting for 20.3 percent of the total and about a thousand less than in 2017; of these, 67,000 are those with foreign partners (born with foreign citizenship), 24,000 with Italian partners.

The average number of children per woman (1.32) is unchanged, if compared to the previous year.

According to the report’s estimates, fertility has, as usual, a different profile among regions.