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.

As of May 3, 2020 the number of deaths related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) amounted to 28,900 thousand. Conversely, cerebrovascular disorders were estimated to have caused 20,400 deaths and deaths due to other cardiovascular diseases totaled 18,550.

In Italy, the northern regions registered the largest number of coronavirus deaths. Especially, Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, and Veneto recorded the highest number of deaths.

For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Fact and Figures page.

The primary source of the data relating to the causes of death is represented by the "death card" prepared by the National Statistical Institute (Istat) which must be filled in by the attending physician or by the physician who assisted the deceased patient. This form, according to the 1990 Mortuary Police (Rpm) regulation (Presidential Decree 285/90), is in duplicate and must be sent by the Municipality of death to Istat and to the Local Health Unit of death.

This statistic depicts the main causes of death in Italy in 2014. According to data, ischemic heart diseases, with 69,653 cases registered, were the ones causing the highest number of deaths. Then followed cerebrovascular and other heart diseases. Among the twenty-five major death causes, brain cancer and suicide were the ones producing the lowest number of deaths.

In 2023, 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.

Cause of death, by non-communicable diseases (% of total) in Italy was reported at 90.64 % in 2019, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Italy - Cause of death, by non-communicable diseases (% of total) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on March of 2025.

Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, the number of deaths in Italy remained rather stable. In 2020, on the contrary, the death rate reached 12.5 per 1,000 inhabitants, a notable increase compared to previous years. Three years after the pandemic, the figure remains above 10 deaths per 1,000 residents. From the perspective of the single regions, the highest number of deaths was registered in Liguria, whereas the lowest death rate in the country was reported in Trentino-Alto Adige. Coronavirus in Italy 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. Data on the infected patients show that COVID-19 has hit every age group uniformly, but the mortality rate appears to be much higher for elderly patients. Death rates in Europe Despite being the fourth-largest country in Europe in terms of population size, Italy was the state with the second-highest number of deaths, preceded only by Germany, the most populated country on the continent.

In March 2020, during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Italy recorded the highest monthly number of deaths across the period January 2019-October 2024. The number of individuals who died in March 2020 was 86,500. Another critical month was November 2020, when 78,500 deaths were reported. By contrast, in September 2019, 46,500 deaths were recorded, the lowest number of fatalities within the past five years. The deaths registered from February to June 2024 were the lowest since 2019.

The RIFC was one of the first national registries in the world for Cystic fibrosis: established in 1988 by some pediatricians in order to collect clinical data of Italian patients diagnosed with cystic fibrosis to carry out an epidemiological characterization of the disease in our country. When the Registry started in January 1988, demographic and clinical data of all prevailing cases were entered into the database, and from that time until 2004 all incident cases were added.

The surveillance of infectious diseases is entrusted to the Infectious Diseases Information System (Simi), based on reports from doctors. The system includes immediate alerts to alert public health workers and monthly summaries of all notified infectious diseases, compiled by each local health authority.
This system is going to be replaced by the new infectious disease reporting system (PREMAL) which aims to:
- replace the previous system, now technically outdated
- allow all users to use the data of their competence for their own purposes
- adapt to the new European directives
- obtain an early warning system.

Monitoring the use of the implanted devices, tracking the patient in case of failure and optimising the use of available resources.

The Registry was set up to:
- estimate the extent (incidence/prevalence) of growth hormone therapy in the Italian population
- evaluate the appropriateness of the growth hormone prescription
The RNAOC collection system has been computerized since 2011 and is based on a web platform that allows the online reporting of the prescription of growth hormone therapy by the accredited centers of 15 regions and 2 autonomous provinces and on the connection with the other local databases, activated according to regional provisions.

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, in the following months the country had to face four new harsh waves of contagion. As of January 1, 2025, 198,638 deaths caused by COVID-19 were reported by the authorities, of which approximately 48.7 thousand in the region of Lombardy, 20.1 thousand in the region of Emilia-Romagna, and roughly 17.6 thousand in Veneto, the regions mostly hit. The total number of cases reported in the country 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 counted about 2.9 million cases. Italy's death toll was one of the most tragic in the world. In the last months, however, the country saw the end to this terrible situation: as of November 2023, 85 percent of the total Italian population was fully vaccinated. For a global overview, visit Statista's webpage exclusively dedicated to coronavirus, its development, and its impact.

Health expenditure in Austria is compiled according to the System of Health Accounts (SHA). This internationally comparable system of health accounts was developed by the OECD and is now a joint project between the OECD, Eurostat and WHO. Since the reference year 2014, it has been mandatory to submit health expenditure data according to the SHA to the European Commission based on an EU regulation. Statistics Austria has calculated health expenditure by health care services and goods, by financing schemes and by health care providers since 2005. The data sources include annual accounts of local authorities and national accounts data. A flash estimate of health expenditure data is published annually in June; the final results are published in February of the following year. Furthermore, provisional expenditure on hospitals financed by state health funds is published in September, broken down by federal province; the final results are published in February in the following year as well.

The LINK-VACC project links selected variables from existing registries for COVID-19 vaccine surveillance, in order to ensure the monitoring of COVID- 19 vaccines in the phase following their marketing authorization (post-authorization surveillance). This includes the measurement of uptake and coverage of the vaccination, the estimation of vaccine effectiveness, and continuous monitoring of the vaccine’s safety. For these purposes, existing pseudonymized data on COVID-19 laboratory test results, hospitalized COVID-19 patients, COVID-19 vaccinations, underlying health problems, socio-demographic and -economic factors, and healthcare worker status are linked.

Background: Italy has one of the world's oldest populations, and suffered one the highest death tolls from Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) worldwide. Older people with cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), and in particular hypertension, are at higher risk of hospitalization and death for COVID-19. Whether hypertension medications may increase the risk for death in older COVID 19 inpatients at the highest risk for the disease is currently unknown.Methods: Data from 5,625 COVID-19 inpatients were manually extracted from medical charts from 61 hospitals across Italy. From the initial 5,625 patients, 3,179 were included in the study as they were either discharged or deceased at the time of the data analysis. Primary outcome was inpatient death or recovery. Mixed effects logistic regression models were adjusted for sex, age, and number of comorbidities, with a random effect for site.Results: A large proportion of participating inpatients were ≥65 years old (58%), male (68%), non-smokers (93%) with comorbidities (66%). Each additional comorbidity increased the risk of death by 35% [adjOR = 1.35 (1.2, 1.5) p < 0.001]. Use of ACE inhibitors, ARBs, beta-blockers or Ca-antagonists was not associated with significantly increased risk of death. There was a marginal negative association between ARB use and death, and a marginal positive association between diuretic use and death.Conclusions: This Italian nationwide observational study of COVID-19 inpatients, the majority of which ≥65 years old, indicates that there is a linear direct relationship between the number of comorbidities and the risk of death. Among CVDs, hypertension and pre-existing cardiomyopathy were significantly associated with risk of death. The use of hypertension medications reported to be safe in younger cohorts, do not contribute significantly to increased COVID-19 related deaths in an older population that suffered one of the highest death tolls worldwide.

Over the course of 2020, more than 1,200 alcohol-related deaths were recorded in Italy. According to the data, that year, 1,013 men died due to alcohol-related diseases. This was around four times the figure of women who died after developing alcohol-related diseases. Alcohol-related deaths In 2020, the most common alcohol-related death in Italy was caused by alcohol-related liver disease (ARLD). This illness can present itself in different stages after either chronic alcohol use or binge-drinking, each with a different severity of symptoms and fatality.
Alcohol abuse in Italy In 2022, around 13 percent of the population consumed amounts of alcohol considered to be excessive in Italy. However, male Italian consumers were more prone to alcohol abuse in the form of binge-drinking than women. In 2020, more men died of alcohol-related causes than women.

In Italy, the mortality rate due to Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD) has decreased from its peak in 2000 with 422.4 deaths per 100,000 population to 382.5 deaths per 100,000 in 2020. There was a steep decline in the death rate between 2003 and 2004 from 419.7 deaths to 378.5 deaths per 100,000 population. The most common CVDs are heart attack, stroke, heart failure, arrhythmia and heart valve complications. Symptoms of CVDs include chest pain, breathlessness, fatigue, swollen limbs and irregular heartbeat.

Heterozygous mutations in the Paired like homeobox 2b (PHOX2B) gene are causative of congenital central hypoventilation syndrome (CCHS), a rare monogenic disorder belonging to the family of neurocristopathies and due to a defective development of the autonomic nervous system. Most patients manifest sudden symptoms within 1 year of birth, mainly represented by central apnea and cyanosis episodes. The sudden appearance of hypoxic manifestations in CCHS and their occurrence during sleep resemble two other unexplained perinatal disorders, apparent life-threatening event (ALTE) and sudden and unexpected infant death (SUID), among which the vast majority is represented by sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Differently from CCHS, characterized by Mendelian autosomal dominant inheritance, ALTE and SIDS are complex traits, where common genetic variants, together with external factors, may exert an additive effect with symptoms likely manifesting only over a “threshold.” Given the similarities observed among the three abovementioned perinatal disorders, in this work, we have analyzed the frequency of PHOX2B common variants in two groups of Italian idiopathic ALTE (IALTE) and SUIDs/SIDS patients. Here, we report that the c*161G>A (rs114290493) SNP of the 3′UTR PHOX2B (i) became overrepresented in the two sets of patients compared to population matched healthy controls, and (ii) associated with decreased PHOX2B gene expression, likely mediated by miR-204, a microRNA already known to bind the 3′UTR of the PHOX2B gene. Overall, these results suggest that, at least in the Italian population, the SNP c*161G>A (rs114290493) does contribute, presumably in association with others mutations or polymorphisms, to confer susceptibility to sudden unexplained perinatal life-threatening or fatal disorders by increasing the effect of miR-204 in inducing PHOX2B expression down-regulation. However, these are preliminary observations that need to be confirmed on larger cohorts to achieve a clinical relevance.

In 2021, a total of 18,652 deaths from colorectal cancer were registered. The Italian macro-region in which the most deaths from colorectal cancer occurred was the North-West: in this area, roughly five thousand deaths from this cause were recorded. Deaths from colorectal cancer seemed to be more common among male individuals than among female ones. This statistic breaks down the number of deaths from colorectal cancer in Italy in 2021, by gender and geographic area.