In 2024, Trentino-South Tyrol was the Italian region where both women and men were predicted to live the longest lives in the whole peninsula. In the German-speaking region, the life expectancy at birth of men was almost 83 years, whereas women were expected to live almost 87 years. The second best ranked region was different for males and females. In Veneto, this figure stood at about 82 years for males and in Veneto at 86 years for females. When compared to the country’s average, women in Trentino-South Tyrol were expected to live roughly three years longer. Long life span and low birth rate Around 20 percent of the Italian population in 2023 was above 65 years. Together with a long life expectancy, Italy also has very low birth and fertility rates. In 2024, the country resulted among the 20 states with the lowest fertility rate in the world. One of the longest-living nations From a global perspective, Italy was the ninth country in the world with the highest life expectancy. The inhabitants of Japan and Liechtenstein were expected to live about 84 years, while Italians' life expectancy was of 83 years.

In 2024, Trentino-South Tyrol recorded the highest life expectancy in Italy for both women and men at 65 years old. Veneto followed in the ranking with the second-highest life expectancy at 65 years. In 2020, life expectancy in Italy decreased dramatically due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused the largest number of deaths recorded in decades.

The population of Italy is getting older every year, becoming one of the oldest ones in the world. In 2025, the average age of the Italian population was 46.8 years, 3.4 years more than the average age registered in 2010. However, the age differs significantly depending on the region. According to the most recent data for 2025, the “oldest” citizens of the Italian peninsula live in the region of Liguria, with an average age 49.6 years, whereas the youngest are in Campania, 44.5 years on average. Women live longer than men The difference in the average age of the population can be observed not only on a regional basis, but also between genders. In 2021, Italian women were on average roughly three years older than men. When it comes to the life expectancy, data confirm the longevity of Italian women. In fact, females in Italy are expected to live on average about four years longer than men. The Old Continent In 2024, Europe was the continent with the highest share of population older than 65 years. Whereas the worldwide percentage of the population over 65 years was of ten percent, the percentage of elderly people in the Old Continent reached 20 percent.

In 2020, the average age at which Italian women had their first child was 31 years. This statistic highlights regional differences in this figure. An average woman in Sardinia would have her first child at **** years, making it the region with the highest first-time mothers' average age. Lazio followed closely, with an average age of ****. On the other hand, Sicily and the Autonomous Province of Bolzano, the southernmost and northernmost territories of Italy, were the regions with the lowest first-time mothers age, with 30 years.

Objective: This study assessed amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) incidence in Sardinia, Italy, and the combined contribution of age and gender to disease risk. We also checked disease incidence for spatial–temporal variability. Methods: ALS patients from all neurological centers of the study area who had onset during 2010–2019 and fulfilled El Escorial revised diagnostic criteria were included. Incidence was calculated for the overall study area and each province separately. Additive interaction between age and sex on ALS incidence was assessed. Results: The average crude annual incidence rate was 3.6/100,000 person-years (95% CI, 3.2–4.1), 3.1/100,000 person-years (95% CI, 2.7–3.5) when age-adjusted. Incidence was greater among people aged ≥65 years and men, with the two variables undergoing significant additive interaction. Incidence increased yearly over the study period, with annual incidence correlating with the increasing yearly frequency of people aged ≥65 years, but not with the proportion of incident cases carrying genetic mutations. Stratifying by province, the rates from Oristano and South Sardinia were higher than the rate from Cagliari. ALS patients from areas at different risk were comparable for frequency of clinical/genetic features. Conclusion: ALS incidence in Sardinia was in the upper part of the European range of variability. We also provided new information about age and sex as risk factors for ALS, showing male sex as a modifier of the effect of aging on ALS incidence. Spatial–temporal variations in ALS incidence correlated to changes in the proportion of the aging population rather than to the distribution of genetic factors.

In 2025, Liguria was the region with the largest share of the population aged 65 years or older. By contrast, 21 percent of inhabitants in Campania belonged to this age group, the lowest percentage nationwide. Data showing the age distribution by macro-region reveal that the north-west of Italy had the oldest population, while people living in the southern regions were the youngest nationwide.