Sardinia, 2,600 fewer inhabitants in one year. The island, with Liguria, is the "oldest" region of Italy
The new permanent Istat census has been released. In the Sardinian municipalities, there are 7.4 elderly people for every child. Resident foreigners are 48,400 (-922)
Sardinia, fewer inhabitants and an increasingly elderly population (Pixabay)
The census population in Italy as at 31 December 2021 amounts to 59,030,133 residents, down by 0.3% compared to 2020 (-206,080 people).
This is what we read in the Istat permanent census , published today.
The decline also affects Sardinia: the island went from 1,590,044 inhabitants to 1,587,413 in one year, or -2,631 inhabitants in 12 months.
The decrease in population - explains Istat - mainly affects central Italy (-0.5%) and northern Italy (-0.4% for both the north-west and north-east), is more contained in the Southern Italy (-0.2%) and is minimal in the Islands (just 3 thousand units less). But the "minus" sign, as mentioned, catches the eye throughout the country.
As for the causes, “the drop in population – explains the national institute of statistics – is not only due to the negative natural balance but is to be attributed in part to the decrease in the foreign population. The foreigners surveyed are 5,030,716 (-141,178 compared to 2020), with an incidence on the total population of 8.5 foreigners for every 100 surveyed".
In Sardinia, foreign residents went from 49,322 to 48,400, or -922, in one year.
Again, the data show that Rome is the most populous municipality with 2,749,031 residents, Morterone (in the province of Lecco) the smallest (with just 31 inhabitants).
"The decrease in population - continues the Istat report - is much more limited in the municipalities of the 5-20 thousand inhabitants class and in the class of up to 5 thousand inhabitants (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".
But the Istat photograph shows not only the decline in population, but also that ours is an increasingly old country.
The average age rose 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 is confirmed as the oldest (49.4 years), ahead of Sardinia.
«The aging of the Italian population is even more evident in comparison with past censuses. In 2021, for every child there are 5.4 elderly people against less than one elderly person for every child in 1951 (3.8 in 2011). Also in this case the figure for Sardinia stands out, where there are 7.4 elderly people for each child, second only figure, once again to Liguria (7.8).
The national old-age index (i.e. the ratio between the percentage of the population aged 65 and over and that aged 0-14) has also significantly increased and continues to grow: from 33.5% in 1951 to 187.6% in 2021. And, among the individual regions, the oldest are once again Sardinia and Liguria, with an old age index of 241.8 and 267.2 respectively.
(Unioneonline/lf)
