(KPL/Prensa Latina) Italy's population between the ages of 15 and 34 has fallen by 750,000 in the last decade, a report indicated today.

In 2014, Italy had 12.8 million young people in this age group, while ten years later their number has fallen to around 12.1 million, according to a study by the Research Centre of the General Confederation of Italian Artisans (CGIA), that also brings together entrepreneurs of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.

The decline in the youth population over the decade reached 5.8% and mainly affected the southern regions of the country, where it reached an alarming 14.7 percentage points, with the most serious situation in the provinces of South Sardinia, Oristano and Isernia, where it reached 25.4, 23.4 and 21.5 percentage points respectively.

Of the 747,672 fewer young people registered over the last ten years, 730,756 were in the southern regions, while the figure for central Italy was 119,157.

However, the balance was positive in the more industrialised northern regions, with an increase of 46,821 people in the north-east and 55,420 in the north-west, largely due to the greater presence of immigrants and young people from the south, the least developed area of this European nation, the analysis notes.

As part of the study, 107 provinces were monitored and only 26 recorded a positive balance between 2014 and 2024, including Gorizia, Trieste, Milan and Bologna, with increases in their population aged between 15 and 34 of 9.7, 9.8, 10.1 and 11.5 per cent respectively, the document adds.

Forecasts for the coming years are negative, according to the CGIA researchers, due, among other things, to the emigration of young people and a continuing decline in the birth rate, the source adds.

KPL