Rome is the most populous city in Italy. With 2.75 million inhabitants, the capital of the country put ahead Milan and Naples. Compared to the number of citizens in 2012, the resident population of Rome increased by over 140,000 individuals. Regional data Rome is located in the center of Italy in the Lazio region. Lazio is the second-largest region in terms of population size after Lombardy. In 2024, the region counts roughly 5.7 million inhabitants, whereas Lombardy has over ten million individuals. The third-largest region is Campania, with 5.6 million people. Naples, the major center of Campania, has around 910,000 inhabitants at the beginning of 2024. Nevertheless, this city was, back in the 19th century, one of the largest cities in Western Europe. Tourism in Rome The Eternal City is also the main tourist destination in Italy and was the eighth most-visited city in Europe. The largest groups of international visitors in Rome came from the United States of America, Japan, and the United Kingdom. Every year, more and more tourists also enjoy the best-known tourist attractions in Rome, like the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and the Palatine Hill, which together recorded almost ten million visitors in 2022.

This statistic shows the ten largest cities in Italy in 2025. In 2025, around 2.75 million people lived in Rome, making it the largest city in Italy. Population of Italy Italy has high population figures and a high population density in comparison to other European countries. A vast majority of Italians lives in urban areas and in the metropolises (as can be seen in this statistic), while other areas, such as the island Sardinia, are rather sparsely inhabited. After an increase a few years ago, Italy’s fertility rate, i.e. the average amount of children born to a woman of childbearing age, is now on a slow decline; however, it is still high enough to offset any significant effect the decrease might have on the country’s number of inhabitants. The median age of Italy’s population has been increasing rapidly over the past 50 years – which mirrors a lower mortality rate – and Italy is now among the countries with the highest life expectancy worldwide, only surpassed by two Asian countries, namely Japan and Hong Kong. Currently, the average life expectancy at birth in Italy is at about 83 years. Most of Italy’s population is of Roman Catholic faith. The country actually boasts one of the largest numbers of Catholics worldwide; other such countries include Brazil, Mexico and the United States. The central government of the Roman Catholic Church, the Holy See, is located in Vatican City in the heart of Italy’s capital and ruled by the Bishop of Rome, the Pope. Officially, Vatican City does not belong to Italy, but is a sovereign state with its own legislation and jurisdiction. It has about 600 inhabitants, who are almost exclusively members of the clergy or government officials.

Rome is the largest Italian metropolitan area. As of 2025, the urban area of the capital city has a population of around 4.22 million people. Milan and Naples follow with 3.25 million and 2.96 million people, respectively. In terms of inhabitants per square kilometer, Naples, located in the south, has the highest population density. Rome, Milan, and Naples are also Italy's largest cities.

Naples is the Italian city with the highest population density. As of 2025, the largest south Italian city counts 7,780 inhabitants per square kilometer. Milan followed with around 7,500 residents per square kilometer, whereas Rome, the largest Italian city, registered a population density of only 2,135 people, 5,645 inhabitants per square kilometer less than Naples.

Throughout the early modern period, the largest city in Italy was Naples. The middle ages saw many metropolitan areas along the Mediterranean grow to become the largest in Europe, as they developed into meeting ports for merchants travelling between the three continents. Italy, throughout this time, was not a unified country, but rather a collection of smaller states that had many cultural similarities, and political control of these cities regularly shifted over the given period. Across this time, the population of each city generally grew between each century, but a series of plague outbreaks in the 1600s devastated the populations of Italy's metropolitan areas, which can be observed here. Naples At the beginning of the 1500s, the Kingdom of Naples was taken under the control of the Spanish crown, where its capital grew to become the largest city in the newly-expanding Spanish Empire. Prosperity then grew in the 16th and 17th centuries, before the city's international importance declined in the 18th century. There is also a noticeable dip in Naples' population size between 1600 and 1700, due to an outbreak of plague in 1656 that almost halved the population. Today, Naples is just the third largest city in Italy, behind Rome and Milan. Rome Over 2,000 years ago, Rome became the first city in the world to have a population of more than one million people, and in 2021, it was Italy's largest city with a population of 2.8 million; however it did go through a period of great decline in the middle ages. After the Fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476CE, Rome's population dropped rapidly, below 100,000 inhabitants in 500CE. 1,000 years later, Rome was an important city in Europe as it was the seat of the Catholic Church, and it had a powerful banking sector, but its population was just 55,000 people as it did not have the same appeal for merchants or migrants held by the other port cities. A series of reforms by the Papacy in the late-1500s then saw significant improvements to infrastructure, housing, and sanitation, and living standards rose greatly. Over the following centuries, the Papacy consolidated its power in the center of the Italian peninsula, which brought stability to the region, and the city of Rome became a cultural center. Across this period, Rome's population grew almost three times larger, which was the highest level of growth of these cities.

Population in largest city in Italy was reported at 4331974 in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Italy - Population in largest city - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on September of 2025.

Population in the largest city (% of urban population) in Italy was reported at 10.16 % in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Italy - Population in the largest city - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on September of 2025.

The statistic shows the leading ten Italian cities with the highest number of architects in 2017. As of the survey period, the city of Florence, in Tuscany, was the city with the highest number of architects, counting almost ** architects every 10,000 inhabitants, *** more than in the city of Rome and *** more than in the city of Milan.

Italy IT: Population in Largest City: as % of Urban Population data was reported at 8.953 % in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 8.920 % for 2016. Italy IT: Population in Largest City: as % of Urban Population data is updated yearly, averaging 8.946 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 9.181 % in 1972 and a record low of 8.240 % in 1960. Italy IT: Population in Largest City: as % of Urban Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Italy – Table IT.World Bank: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Population in largest city is the percentage of a country's urban population living in that country's largest metropolitan area.; ; United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects.; Weighted Average;

In 2025, the top city for startups in Italy is Milan, with a total score of 17.02, surpassing Rome by almost quadruple the score. Milan ranked 13th in the European Union and is the sole Italian city included in the global top 100. Other leading Italian cities for startups are Rome, Turin, and Florence.

According to a 2025 study, Ferrara was the Italian city with the highest average occupancy rate in four-star hotels in May 2025, with an average occupancy rate of 85.3 percent. Meanwhile, Venice was one of the most expensive Italian cities based on the average price of four-star hotels in June 2025. The occupancy rate is a key metric used in the hotel industry. It is calculated by dividing the number of occupied rooms by the number of available rooms in a specific period and multiplying by 100 to obtain a percentage.

In 2020, the North Italian city of Cuneo was the city with the largest number of trees every 100 inhabitants. The city had 190 plants per 100 residents, whereas in Modena, in Emilia-Romagna, there were 115 trees per 100 population. Moreover, in Trieste, in the North-East of the country, there were 102 plants per every 100 people.

Graph and download economic data for Geographical Outreach: Number of Branches in 3 Largest Cities, Excluding Headquarters, for Commercial Banks for Italy (ITAFCBODCLNUM) from 2008 to 2014 about branches, Italy, banks, and depository institutions.

This horizontal bar chart displays revenues ($) by city using the aggregation sum in Italy. The data is about companies.

Between January and June 2025, Naples was the Italian city with the highest gross gaming revenue (GGR) from retail sports betting, with a GGR of over 85 million euros. Rome and Milan followed in the ranking, with a GGR of approximately 41.2 million and 28.4 million euros, respectively.

This statistic illustrates the top ten Italian towns with the highest percentage change in foreign population size in the period from 2012 to 2016. According to the study results, the town with the highest increase in the number of immigrants was Crotone (*** percent increase). The foreign population size more than doubled also in Marsala and Giugliano in Campania (*** and *** percent increase, respectively).

Milan, Bologna, Genoa, Florence, and Turin recorded a population increase between 2022 and 2023. In fact, all the other largest municipalities registered a decrease, most prominently in the south and on the islands. However, Naples is the third-largest Italian municipality, after Rome and Milan.

This horizontal bar chart displays ESG score (/ 100) by city using the aggregation average in Italy. The data is about companies.

According to a June 2025 analysis, Rome reported the highest number of Airbnb listings among the selected Italian cities. As of that month, there were over ****** establishments listed on Airbnb in the Italian capital. Milan and Florence followed behind, with over ****** and almost ****** listings on Airbnb. What are the leading brands for accommodation bookings in Italy? According to the Statista Consumer Insights Global survey, Airbnb was the second most popular brand for hotel and private accommodation online bookings in Italy in 2025, with over ********* of respondents having booked accommodation via that website. That year, Booking.com topped the ranking, with almost ************** of the sample reporting using that provider. Booking Holdings vs. Airbnb Booking Holdings, which operates the Booking.com brand, and Airbnb are among the biggest companies in the online travel market. In 2025, Booking Holdings had the highest market cap of the leading online travel companies worldwide, while Airbnb ranked second. Both companies experienced an annual increase in earnings in 2024. That year, Booking Holdings' revenue peaked at almost ** billion U.S. dollars. Meanwhile, Airbnb's revenue also reached an all-time high in 2024.

Milan is the leading Italian city for waste sorting, with over ** percent of waste sorted out of the total volume collected. While the volume of sorted waste in northern Italian cities is above ** percent, this figure drops significantly in southern cities, such as Palermo (Sicily), where it amounted to only ** percent in 2023. However, the share of waste sorted in Naples increased by roughly ** percentage points between 2020 and 2021.