After entering Italy, the coronavirus (COVID-19) spread fast. The strict lockdown implemented by the government during the Spring 2020 helped to slow down the outbreak. However, the country had to face four new harsh waves of contagion. As of January 1, 2025, the total number of cases reported by the authorities reached over 26.9 million. The north of the country was mostly hit, and the region with the highest number of cases was Lombardy, which registered almost 4.4 million of them. The north-eastern region of Veneto and the southern region of Campania followed in the list. When adjusting these figures for the population size of each region, however, the picture changed, with the region of Veneto being the area where the virus had the highest relative incidence. Coronavirus in Italy Italy has been among the countries most impacted by the coronavirus outbreak. Moreover, the number of deaths due to coronavirus recorded in Italy is significantly high, making it one of the countries with the highest fatality rates worldwide, especially in the first stages of the pandemic. In particular, a very high mortality rate was recorded among patients aged 80 years or older. Impact on the economy The lockdown imposed during the Spring 2020, and other measures taken in the following months to contain the pandemic, forced many businesses to shut their doors and caused industrial production to slow down significantly. As a result, consumption fell, with the sectors most severely hit being hospitality and tourism, air transport, and automotive. Several predictions about the evolution of the global economy were published at the beginning of the pandemic, based on different scenarios about the development of the pandemic. According to the official results, it appeared that the coronavirus outbreak had caused Italy’s GDP to shrink by approximately nine percent in 2020.

Italy MH: COVID-2019: Number of Tests: To-Date: Sicily data was reported at 16,989,378.000 Unit in 08 Jan 2025. This records an increase from the previous number of 16,989,177.000 Unit for 01 Jan 2025. Italy MH: COVID-2019: Number of Tests: To-Date: Sicily data is updated daily, averaging 4,914,973.000 Unit from Mar 2020 (Median) to 08 Jan 2025, with 815 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 16,989,378.000 Unit in 08 Jan 2025 and a record low of 791.000 Unit in 08 Mar 2020. Italy MH: COVID-2019: Number of Tests: To-Date: Sicily data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Ministry of Health. The data is categorized under High Frequency Database’s Disease Outbreaks – Table IT.D001: Ministry of Health: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-2019).

As of January 1, 2025, Rome (Lazio) was the Italian province which registered the highest number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in the country. Milan (Lombardy) came second in this ranking, while Naples (Campania) and Turin (Piedmont) followed. These four areas are also the four most populated provinces in Italy. The region of Lombardy was the mostly hit by the spread of the virus, recording almost one sixth of all coronavirus cases in the country. The provinces of Milan and Brescia accounted for a large part of this figure. For a global overview, visit Statista's webpage exclusively dedicated to coronavirus, its development, and its impact.

obiectivele de vaccinare și numărul de vaccinări pentru municipalitățile siciliene; raport pentru prima jumătate a anului 2021. Sursă: Ordinul nr. 75 din 7 iulie 2021 https://www.regione.sicilia.it/institutions/information-services/decrees-and-directives/order-n-75-7-July-2021

As of January 1, 2025, the number of active coronavirus (COVID-19) infections in Italy was approximately 218,000. Among these, 42 infected individuals were being treated in intensive care units. Another 1,332 individuals infected with the coronavirus were hospitalized with symptoms, while approximately 217,000 thousand were in isolation at home. The total number of coronavirus cases in Italy reached over 26.9 million (including active cases, individuals who recovered, and individuals who died) as of the same date. The region mostly hit by the spread of the virus was Lombardy, which counted almost 4.4 million cases.For a global overview, visit Statista's webpage exclusively dedicated to coronavirus, its development, and its impact.

Italy MH: COVID-2019: Number of Cases: To-Date: CC: Sicily data was reported at 1,511.000 Person in 08 Jan 2025. This records an increase from the previous number of 1,510.000 Person for 01 Jan 2025. Italy MH: COVID-2019: Number of Cases: To-Date: CC: Sicily data is updated daily, averaging 15,784.000 Person from Feb 2020 (Median) to 08 Jan 2025, with 827 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 277,811.000 Person in 08 Feb 2022 and a record low of 2.000 Person in 29 Feb 2020. Italy MH: COVID-2019: Number of Cases: To-Date: CC: Sicily data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Ministry of Health. The data is categorized under High Frequency Database’s Disease Outbreaks – Table IT.D001: Ministry of Health: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-2019).

In 2024, the Italian region with the highest death rate was Liguria. By contrast, Trentino-South Tyrol was the area where the lowest death rate was registered in the whole country. In the period between 2010 and 2019, the annual death rate in Italy remained rather stable. In 2020, instead, the death rate increased compared to previous years. Coronavirus deaths In Italy, the first cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) were registered at the end of January 2020. Then, since the end of February, the virus started to spread among the Italian population. As of October 2021, Italy recorded 4.7 million cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) and over 130,000 deaths. Death rates in other European countries In 2019, Italy was the European country which registered the second-highest number of deaths. The state with the highest number of deceased was Germany, which is also the most populous country on the continent. On the contrary, Italy ranked only fourth, considering the size of the population.

During autumn 2021, Italian authorities started administering booster shots of coronavirus vaccines to the population in order to improve the general protection against the virus, using either Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. As of September 24, 2023, approximately 70.3 percent of the population over 12 years old have received a booster vaccination. This statistic shows regional differences in these figures. Lombardy was the region achieving the highest booster vaccination coverage, with around 74.3 percent. Conversely, just 61.5 percent of citizens living in Sicily received a third shot. About 85 percent of the total population in Italy has completed the regular vaccination cycle, having received two shots. Thanks to this, despite the high number of daily cases, figures for deaths and hospitalizations remain low. More statistics and facts about the virus in Italy are available here.For a global overview on the various COVID-19 vaccines' development and distribution, visit Statista's Facts and Figures on the topic.

In December 2019, a novel coronavirus emerged in Wuhan, China, rapidly spreading into a global pandemic. Italy was the first European country to experience SARS-CoV-2 epidemic, and one of the most severely affected during the first wave of diffusion. In contrast to the general restriction of people movements in Europe, the number of migrants arriving at Italian borders via the Mediterranean Sea route in the summer of 2020 had increased dramatically, representing a possible, uncontrolled source for the introduction of novel SARS-CoV-2 variants. Importantly, most of the migrants came from African countries showing limited SARS-CoV-2 epidemiological surveillance. In this study, we characterized the SARS-CoV-2 genome isolated from an asymptomatic migrant arrived in Sardinia via the Mediterranean route in September 2020, in comparison with SARS-CoV-2 isolates arrived in Sicily through the Libyan migration route; with SARS-CoV-2 isolates circulating in Sardinia during 2020; and with viral genomes reported in African countries during the same summer. Results showed that our sequence is not phylogenetically related to isolates from migrants arriving in Sicily, nor to isolates circulating in Sardinia territory, having greater similarity to SARS-CoV-2 genomes reported in countries known for being sites of migrant embarkation to Italy. This is in line with the hypothesis that most SARS-CoV-2 infections among migrants have been acquired prior to embarking to Italy, possibly during the travel to or the stay in crowded Libyan immigrant camps. Overall, these observations underline the importance of dedicated SARS-CoV-2 surveillance of migrants arriving in Italy and in Europe through the Mediterranean routes.

According to a forecast from May 2024, the unemployment rate in Italy could reach 7.5 percent by the end of the year, two percentage points less than 2021, when the COVID-19 outbreak had a disastrous impact on the labor market. The rate is then expected to drop to 7.3 percent in 2025. Weak employment situation Unemployment in Italy started increasing after the 2008 financial crisis and peaked at 12.7 percent in 2014. It mostly affected the young population. Similarly, the youth unemployment rate also increased significantly during the same period, reaching over 40 percent in 2014. Even if the figures decreased in the following years, in 2022 the rates were still particularly high in the southern regions. Indeed, the youth unemployment rate in the regions of Sicily and Campania stood at around 43 percent. COVID-19 impact on the economy The coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak had a serious impact on Italy’s economy. In June 2020, most Italian respondents declared that the coronavirus pandemic had impacted or would impact their personal incomes in the future. In addition, the fear of losing the job due to the pandemic has been increasing in the country, with more than half of respondents worrying about this in July 2020.

MH：新冠疫情：检测数：迄今为止：西西里岛在01-08-2025达16,989,378.000单位，相较于01-01-2025的16,989,177.000单位有所增长。MH：新冠疫情：检测数：迄今为止：西西里岛数据按日更新，03-08-2020至01-08-2025期间平均值为4,914,973.000单位，共815份观测结果。该数据的历史最高值出现于01-08-2025，达16,989,378.000单位，而历史最低值则出现于03-08-2020，为791.000单位。CEIC提供的MH：新冠疫情：检测数：迄今为止：西西里岛数据处于定期更新的状态，数据来源于Ministero della Salute，数据归类于高频数据库的流行病爆发 – Table IT.D001: Ministry of Health: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-2019)。

Risorsa in formato CSV con report vaccini primo semestre 2021. Campi: - name: Comune - type: string - description: nome del Comune - name: CODISTAT - type: string - description: codice ISTAT del Comune - name: provincia - type: string - description: nome Provincia del Comune - name: inizioIntervallo - type: date - description: data di inizio intervallo osservazione del fenomeno - name: fineIntervallo - type: date - description: data di fine intervallo osservazione del fenomeno - name: classeEta - type: string - description: fascia di età - name: Target - type: integer - description: numero di vaccinati che si desidera raggiungere per fascia di età, per ogni comune - name: Vaccinati - type: integer - description: numero di vaccinazione effettuate per fascia di età, per ogni comune

Objetivos de vacunación y número de vacunados para los municipios sicilianos; informe correspondiente al primer semestre de 2021. Fuente: Orden n.o 75, de 7 de julio de 2021, https://www.regione.sicilia.it/institutions/information-services/decrees-and-directives/order-n-75-7-July-2021

The number of tourist arrivals in the Italian region of Sicily increased significantly in 2023 over the previous year, recovering from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, Palermo was the province with the highest volume of arrivals in 2023, with the combined number of international and domestic arrivals totaling 5.5 million that year. Palermo was also the province with the highest number of tourist overnight stays in Sicily in 2023.

The Italian national health care underwent a huge challenge when the country was the first in Europe to be severely hit by COVID-19. A survey conducted in June 2020 attempted to find out what the opinions of Italian citizens were concerning the way the national health care faced the challenge and the structural issues it shed light on, and to check for eventual differences in these opinions by macro-region. This level of analysis seems appropriate as the national health care in Italy is organized by regions, with different levels of efficiency.

Residents of the North-East seemed to be the most content with the current state of their public health system. 30 percent of them believed the system stood up to the COVID-19 challenge and the percentage of respondents who declared the need for increased hospital capacity and modernization was lower than in the other macro-regions. People from Sicily and Sardinia were the most concerned with the state of hospitals, with 59 percent of respondents asserting the government should strengthen their capacity. In the North-West, the Italian macro-region with the highest number of casualties due to COVID-19, as much as 17 percent of the respondents believed the national health care did not stand up to the challenge. For residents of the Center, very pressing issues were the allocation of additional funds to public health (57 percent) and higher salaries to the medical staff (30 percent).

In Italy, approximately 722,000 deaths were registered in 2022. According to the data, ischemic heart diseases were the most common cause of death in the country, with 59,052 cases registered, closely followed by cerebrovascular diseases. COVID-19 was the third illness causing the largest number of deaths in Italy. COVID-19 death comorbidities Most patients admitted to the hospital and later deceased with the coronavirus (COVID-19) infection showed one or more comorbidities. Hypertension was the most common pre-existing health condition, detected in 65.8 percent of patients who died after contracting the virus. Type 2-diabetes, ischemic heart disease, and atrial fibrillation were also among the most common comorbidities in COVID-19 patients who lost their lives. Cancer deaths The number of people who died from a tumor in Italy decreased constantly between 2006 and 2021. Indeed, the rate of deaths due to cancer among Italians dropped from 28.7 deaths per 10,000 inhabitants in 2006 to 23.3 in 2021. The Italian region with the highest cancer mortality rate was Campania, followed by Sardinia, and Sicily.

The number of tourist overnight stays in the Italian region of Sicily increased sharply in 2023 over the previous year, recovering from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, Palermo was the province with the highest volume of overnight stays in 2023, with the combined nights spent by international and domestic visitors reaching nearly 3.9 million that year. Palermo was also the province with the highest number of tourist arrivals in Sicily in 2023.

In 2022, the Gross domestic product (GDP) in Italy reached roughly 33,000 euros per capita. When analyzed from the regional perspective, the highest GDP per capita can be observed in the Northern areas of the country. Trentino-South Tyrol led the ranking, with a GDP per inhabitant of almost 50,000 euros. Lombardy and Aosta Valley ranked in the second and third place, with a GDP per capita of 44,000 euros and 43,000 euros, respectively. The figure of Trentino-South Tyrol represented more than the double of the GDP per capita of the southern regions of Calabria, Sicily, Campania, Apulia, and Molise, confirming the critical divide between these two areas of the country.Economic performance of a country Gross domestic product per capita is an indicator of economic performance, calculated as a division of the total gross domestic product of a country in a certain period of time by its population. Whereas nominal and real GDP help to understand the economic strength of the country as a whole, per capita values illustrate the standard of living and wellbeing of the citizens. COVID-19 and GDPForecasts published at the end of 2019 estimated that Italy's economy would have experienced a slow growth during 2020. However, the outbreak of COVID-19 significantly changed this scenario. Different estimations on Italy's GDP growth have been published since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. Some of the most recent data from 2021 show the GDP decreased by 8.8 percent in 2020. Similarly, a forecast from December 2020 estimated that this figure might decline by 8.9 percent during 2021.

The southern region of Sicily was the Italian region with the highest number of airports with six facilities, four on the main island and two more on the surrounding islands of Pantelleria and Lampedusa. Sicily was followed by Apulia, Lombardy, Tuscany, and Emilia-Romagna, all with four airports each.

The Italian air traffic stopped by the pandemic

Tourism, food, and art seemed to positively push the figures related to the number of arriving and departing passengers in Italian airports.
From 2014 to 2019, the Italian air passenger traffic experienced an upward trend, peaking at more than 191 million in 2019. Unfortunately, the air traffic in Italy suffered one of the worst declines in its history. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of passengers decreased by 72.4 percent in 2020. Over the same year, Ryanair was the company carrying the highest number of passengers to and from Italy, reaching 11.8 million passengers.

Where do Italians fly to?

Italians seem to enjoy travelling. According to the data, in 2019 almost 5.5 million passengers travelling from and to Italy had the U.S. and Canada as countries of origin or destination of their travels. Compared to European destinations the number is quite low; the number of passengers flying within the Europe amounted to 106.9 million in 2019.

Every year, less and less Italians decide to walk down the aisle and join in the wedlock with their other half. In 2024, the country registered less than marriages per 1,000 individuals, one union less than in 2009. In 2020, the marriage rate dropped considerably due to the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching only 1.6 celebrations per 1,000 people. The region with the highest marriage rate in 2023 was Sicily, where 3.7 couples per 1,000 inhabitants got married. Brides and grooms always older Italians postpone to a later date their decision to tie the knot. Back in the 1990s, the average age of the Italian brides at marriage was 26.8 years, whereas in 2017 this figure was about 31 years. The average age of mothers at childbirth also increased in the last decades, augmenting almost by two years since 2002. In 2022, the mean age was 32.4 years. Various reasons of not getting married There are different motives why people decide not to get married. When asked about the reason they didn’t get married, the majority of Italian singles replied, that they did not find the right person. On the other hand, about 17 percent of individuals cohabiting together with their partner stated that they don’t believe in marriage, whereas roughly one-fourth of the respondents never felt the need to do it.