Italy: Aging - World Health Systems Facts

Population, Midyear 2022: 59,037,474
Population Density (Number of Persons per Square Kilometer): 199.47
Life Expectancy at Birth, 2022: 84.06
Projected Population, Midyear 2030: 57,544,258
Percentage of Total Population Aged 65 and Older, Midyear 2022: 24.05%
Projected Percentage of Total Population Aged 65 and Older, Midyear 2030: 28.35%
Projected Percentage of Total Population Aged 65 and Older, Midyear 2050: 37.14%

Source: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2023). Data Portal, custom data acquired via website. United Nations: New York. Accessed 12 May 2023.

Life expectancy at birth, 2021: 82.7 years
Share of the population aged 65 and over, 2021: 23.6%
Share of the population aged 65 and over, 2050: 34.9%
Share of the population aged 80 and over, 2021: 7.6%
Share of the population aged 80 and over, 2050: 14.2%
Adults aged 65 and over rating their own health as good or very good, 2021: 43%
Adults aged 65 and over rating their own health as poor or very poor, by income, 2021
– Lowest quintile: 24%
– Highest quintile: 14%
– Total: 20%
Limitations in daily activities in adults aged 65 and over, 2021
– Severe Limitations: 16%
– Some Limitations: 32%
Estimated prevalence of dementia per 1,000 population, 2021: 23.4
Estimated prevalence of dementia per 1,000 population, 2040: 29.2
Total long-term care spending as a share of GDP, 2021: 0.9%
Share of informal carers among the population aged 50 and over, 2019
– Daily carers: 8%
– Weekly carers: 3%
Share of long-term care workers who work part time or on fixed contracts, 2021
– Part-time: 29.6%
– Fixed-term contract: 18.5%
Average hourly wages of personal care workers, as a share of economy-wide average wage, 2018
– Residential (facility-based) care: 62
– Home-based care: 59
Long-term care beds in institutions and hospitals per 1,000 population aged 65 years and over, 2021
– Institutions: 21.3
– Hospitals: 0.5

Source: OECD (2023), Health at a Glance 2023: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, doi.org/10.1787/7a7afb35-en.

“In this century, aging is a major challenge facing developed countries. As of January 1, 2015, with 21.4% of residents aged ≥65, and 6.4% aged ≥80 years, Italy has the largest proportion of elderly population in Europe (Eurostat http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/data/database). Similar to most European countries, the pattern of this process is mainly linked to the fertility fluctuation which occurred during the second half of the 20th century: the baby boom cohort (born between 1945 and 1964) is progressively reaching the old age, and it will continue up to the 2030s, whereas the baby bust cohort (born between the early 1960s and 1975) now constitutes the bulk of the working age population. This circumstance will lead to a top-heavy age structure, and is expected to last about 30 years, after which the thinnest years at the end of the baby bust generation will enter old age (Italian National Institute of Statistics [ISTAT], 2011; Reher, 2015; Figure 1).

“Other factors such as survival expectancy and international migration also affect age structure. On the one hand, the ongoing reduction of mortality at all ages has increasingly involved the elderly, shifting forward the limit of life duration (Barbie & Caselli, 2009). On the other hand, the positive net migration flows experienced during the last 30 years have mitigated the process, by both sustaining the active age population and by positively influencing fertility levels (Billari & Dalla-Zuanna, 2013). However, based on projected data, an extra contribution by the immigrants to the cohort entering old age will be observed as early as 2019 (Blangiardo & Rimoldi, 2013). This older group will progressively increase until 2054, when it will reach around 250,000 individuals.”

Source: Paolo Mazzola, MD, Stefania Maria Lorenza Rimoldi, MD, Paolo Rossi, PhD, Marianna Noale, MSc, Federico Rea, BSc, Carla Facchini, PhD, Stefania Maggi, MD, Giovanni Corrao, PhD, Giorgio Annoni, MD, Aging in Italy: The Need for New Welfare Strategies in an Old Country, The Gerontologist, Volume 56, Issue 3, June 2016, Pages 383–390, doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnv152

“The demographic evolution of the Italian population and the increase of average age have raised the issue of “non-self-sufficiency” experienced by a growing number of people (Comas-Herrera et al., 2006). This phenomenon brought the necessity to create policies for long-term care, because many families face issues in reconciling the time accorded to caregiving needs with the working commitments. A further emerging issue is the implementation of the intermediate care, that is, strategies (facilities, multidisciplinary teams) that complement social care with health care interventions or rehabilitation procedures, in order to provide comprehensive services to the elderly with disabling conditions that have arisen. The ultimate goal of intermediate care is to maintain the seniors’ residual autonomy, allowing them to live at home. However, in Italy, these two forms of assistance are provided by two well-separated entities (the municipalities and the NHS), both in terms of responsibilities and budget. Because of this strict separation and of difficulties in optimizing collaboration, intermediate care realities actually implemented and effectively oriented toward the quality of life of the elderly are still sparse. Additionally, specific policies for the nonself-sufficient elderly are still lacking. For these reasons, a large number of families privately employed eldercare assistants (known as badanti, literally “those involved in the surveillance and care”). Most badanti are women coming from abroad (mainly countries of Eastern Europe), typically hired without a regular job contract, meaning they are not registered workers and do not pay taxes (Da Roit, 2011; Degiuli, 2007). For this reason, the employment of a badante is generally cheaper than transferring a senior to a residential care facility. The use of badanti has effectively bridged the absence of homecare services provided by public health care system, even if it is possible to argue that the State de-facto fostered their diffusion by not implementing systematic control measures on their working conditions.”

Italy: Aging - National Policies - World Health Systems Facts

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Page last updated April 28, 2025 by Doug McVay, Editor.