Healthcare in Italy
Demographics and statistics
Italy was ranked as the 2nd healthiest country in the world, and 1st in Europe, by the latest Bloomberg survey conducted in May 2019 on data provided by the United Nations, World Bank and World Health Organization.
In 2022, Italy had a population of 58.9 million with a nativity rate of 4.6 per thousand inhabitants and a negative difference between births and deaths of 148.575. Foreign population was 7.3 million (12.4% of total) with an increase of 335.000 residents in one year.
In 2022, life expectancy at birth in Italy was 83.3 years, more than three years greater than the OECD average (80.1 years). Only Japan and Switzerland registered a higher life expectancy than Italy in 2022.
Residents aged 65 and over account for 25.6% of the population (6.4% are over 80), children up to 14 years old account for 11% and individuals aged 15-64 are less than two thirds of total population.
The prevalence of over-65-year-olds increased over time, from 6.2% in 1901 to 25.6% in 2022. Given the increase in the over-80s, which rose from 0.7% in 1901 to 5.6% in 2009, it is estimated that by 2050 they will account for 13% of the total population.
The percentage of the population that is overweight or obese increases with age: from 20% for individuals aged 18-24 years to over 65% for 55-74 year-olds, before slightly decreasing for the elderly (62% for residents over 75). Men are more overweight than women (48.4% vs. 28.6%), while for obesity the difference is smaller (12.2% for men and 10.4% for women).
Chronic degenerative conditions associated with the ageing process, remain the primary causes of death: cardiovascular illnesses and cancer are the two most frequent causes of death and were responsible in 2022 for 7.4 out of 10 deaths.
In 2022, cardiovascular diseases are still the first cause of death for men (37% of total deaths) overtaking cancer (33%). For women, instead, cardiovascular diseases have been the main cause of death for a while (44% of total deaths) and cancer was the second most frequent cause of death (27%).
Cardiovascular diseases largely affect the older population and are associated with heart ischaemia (such as myocardial infarction) and cerebrovascular diseases (such as stroke).
Cancer represents the first cause of death for men aged 45-84 and for women aged 45-64, before being overtaken by cardiovascular diseases.
Lung cancer for men (with a mortality of 8.1 per 10.000) and breast cancer for women (4.3 per 10.000) are responsible for the highest number of cancer deaths.
For individuals aged 15-44, trauma is the main cause of death, which is mainly caused by car accidents (32%). The other main cause of death is cancer (mostly leukaemia and lymphomas).