8 Billion Lives
Be born

Where you could be born / Europe / Southern Europe

Born in Italy

About 1 in 343 people born in 2023 started life in Italy. A boy can expect to live 82 years and a girl 86, up from 64 and 67 in 1950. Most people live in cities, and nearly everyone has basic drinking water.

1 in 343
odds of being born here
384,600 births · Ranked 63rd of 230
82 / 86
years of life, boys / girls
Was 64 / 67 in 1950
$20,991
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 49th of 203 · extrapolated
70%
live in a city
The rest live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 18 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 81 in every 1,000 births to 2.6.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

0255075100195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
0255075100195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth81.6 years for boys, 85.7 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 52.6 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year663,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people4.2World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles95%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV0.3%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year5 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 2.5 children on average in 1950. Now it is 1.2, below the 2.1 it takes to keep a population steady.

Children per woman
0123195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman1.20UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth32.3 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 41 and the poorest fifth 7.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2023
7%Poorest fifth
12%Second
17%Middle
23%Fourth
41%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $20,991 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth41% / 7% (2023)World Bank PIP
Unemployment7.6% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises5.6% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person1.0% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming4% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed21% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment101% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Rome, with 2.3 million people.

70%
live in cities
100%
have electricity at home
100%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Rome2.3 million
Milan1.4 million
Naples909,048
Turin847,287
Palermo648,260
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Italian95%
English34%
French20%
Lombard6%
Sardinian2%
Italian, French is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Lombardy4.5 million
Campania4.0 million
Lazio3.9 million
Sicily3.2 million
Apulia2.6 million
Emilia-Romagna2.3 million
Piedmont2.2 million
Tuscany2.1 million
Veneto1.6 million
Liguria956,287

Sourced: GeoNames Population of each state, province or region.

Large cities

Sourced: GeoNames Cities with a page: a million people or more.

All 20 regions
  • Lombardy4.5 million
  • Campania4.0 million
  • Lazio3.9 million
  • Sicily3.2 million
  • Apulia2.6 million
  • Emilia-Romagna2.3 million
  • Piedmont2.2 million
  • Tuscany2.1 million
  • Veneto1.6 million
  • Liguria956,287
  • Calabria652,161
  • Sardinia638,690
  • The Marches594,979
  • Abruzzo515,642
  • Friuli Venezia Giulia448,108
  • Umbria363,183
  • Trentino-Alto Adige336,547
  • Basilicate116,836
  • Molise97,219
  • Aosta Valley35,261

People on the move

About 5.0% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are Germany, United States, United Kingdom.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
Germany436,759
United States360,987
United Kingdom342,143
Residents born abroad11.0% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 5.0% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostGermany (436,759), United States (360,987), United Kingdom (342,143)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $12.8 billion a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

100% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 52%.

100%
of older people receive a pension (2022)
52%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2022)

Events in the data

The game draws real events from these records, so a life lived here can meet them.

Reported COVID-19 deaths, 2020 to 2024197,307Our World in Data, from WHO
Significant earthquakes recorded since 195035; the deadliest, in 1980, killed about 4,689 people (magnitude 6.9)NOAA NCEI

Now live it.

Born in Italy, to a family drawn from these numbers. Every life replays exactly from its seed.

Be born in Italy

Elsewhere in Europe

All countries

How to read the sources. Every figure is sourced to a named dataset, shown beside it. A figure marked "Extrapolated" is estimated by a model because no survey covers the year. UN figures are for 2023, the latest year of UN estimates; other figures are the latest year their dataset has. Rank 1 is the highest figure among 230 countries and territories. All sources and licences