Monthly Demographic Balance of the Population - May 2026

Main results

As at 31 May 2026, according to the first provisional data, the resident population of Italy stood at 58,940,756, a decrease of 2 thousand units with respect to the beginning of the year (-0.04 per thousand inhabitants).

Births recorded in the first five months of the year under review are 137 thousand, confirming a further decline in the birth rate (-0.9% with respect to the corresponding period of 2025). Deaths are 280 thousand (-0.1% with respect to the first five months of 2025), likewise consistent with the trend observed over the period.

With respect to the corresponding period of 2025, Immigrations from foreign countries (187 thousand) up by 3.4%, while Emigration to foreign countries (46 thousand) down by 30.3%. Lastly, changes of residence between Municipalities compared withs, which involved a total of 595 thousand citizens, shows a slight decrease (-1.0% with respect to the corresponding months of 2025).

Information on the data collection and dissemination process

The monthly demographic balance of the population provides, at municipal level and disaggregated by sex, aggregate data on changes in the resident population occurring during the reference month, namely: births, deaths, internal transfers of residence, migratory movements to and from abroad, and registrations and cancellations from the population registers for other reasons.

Registry-based flows for each Municipality are compiled by aggregating the microdata on demographic dynamics acquired by Istat through notifications transmitted by Municipalities to the National Registry of the Resident Population (Anagrafe Nazionale della Popolazione Residente, ANPR — https://www.anpr.interno.it/). Following certain basic verification and correction procedures, this information contributes to the provisional calculation, at year-end, of the population as at 31 December, thereby updating the population last officially enumerated. The provisional monthly balance takes into account only “actual” entries, namely births, deaths, and internal and international transfers of residence. Entries relating to registrations and cancellations for other reasons, although disseminated, do not contribute to the calculation of the provisional year-end population, owing to the need to carry out a series of quality checks on such information over a longer time horizon, also in view of subsequent Census operations.

The balance is released within the first quarter following the reference date, so as to provide users with a prompt initial return of basic demographic information. With each monthly update, the database is also consolidated with respect to previous months, in order to take into account events recorded subsequent to the previous release.

Data about monthly demographic balance of the resident population are available on:

• the datawarehouse IstatData
• the thematic site Demo