14 DAY TRIAL // According to the National Statistics Bureau called Istat, Italians are the oldest population in the whole European Union, with one in five Italians over 65 years of age and 5% of the population aged 80 or over the 'venerable' age. Despite the influx of young immigrants to Italy, the country's population gets older with every year that passes by and the section of elderly people outnumbers that of children less than 14 years of age by a 3 to 2 ratio.
This is mainly due to the low birth rate and long life spans which characterize the country and its dwellers. For instance, statistics show that the difference between the number of deaths and the number of births occurring in Italy during 2005 was of 13,282 - in conclusion, the number of deaths outnumbered the number of births by more than 13,000.
Low birthrate in Italy is also illustrated by other figures, especially by the fact that the average number of children born by an Italian woman yearly does not exceed 1.32 children - one of the lowest birthrates throughout Europe. Also, statistics show that since 1992 up to present, the number of deaths exceeded the number of births in Italy - except for the year 2004 when the ratio was in favor of birth rates.
According to survey data published by the Istat National Statistics Bureau on Thursday this week, Italy is closely followed by other 7 states of the 25 EU members in which older population outnumbers younger one. The other countries which, however, fall behind Italy when it comes to elderly population, are: Germany, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Latvia, Slovenia and Estonia.
Image: Rembrandt, Portrait of and Old Man (1665)