The Italian birthrate in 2018 hit a new low not seen since the time of Unification in 1861, said Italian statistics bureau ISTAT in its annual statistical yearbook released Monday.
It said there were 439,747 live births in 2018, compared to 458,151 in 2017.
It said average life expectancy at birth was up in 2018, however, to 80.8 years for men and 85.2 years for women.
ISTAT said these factors mean Italy has one of the oldest populations in the world.
It said households made up of single people were on the rise, having grown more than 10% in the past 20 years to become one-third (33%) of all Italian families in 2018.
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