Due to the new and more stringent citizenship by descent rules, in 2025 the births of Italians abroad have collapsed. The setback was sharp: they dropped from 26,000 recorded in 2024 to 16,000, a contraction of 37.1 percent. The decline mainly affects America (-55%), especially the central-southern area of the continent (-59.7%). And since deaths, on the contrary, remained substantially stable, the natural balance was positive by just 3,000 units, compared to 13,000 the previous year. The result is a marked slowdown in the growth of the number of Italians residing outside national borders. This is reported by an Istat report published on September 3.
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The new citizenship rules
According to the Institute, the drastic drop in births was also influenced by “the new citizenship legislation, which came into effect in 2025, which restricted the cases of automatic transmission of Italian citizenship by descent (iure sanguinis) to children born abroad.”
The citizenship decree was converted into law in May 2025 and introduced limitations on the exercise of ius sanguinis. Specifically, it provides that descendants of Italian citizens, if born abroad, will automatically obtain citizenship only for two generations, limiting this possibility solely to those who have at least one parent or grandparent born in our country.
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The drop in births was particularly drastic in Central and South America. In Brazil and Argentina, countries that historically host a large Italian community, a collapse of 66.6% and 55.8 percent respectively was recorded in 2025. There was also a significant reduction in Europe (-33.2%), with particularly marked decreases in the United Kingdom (-44.2%), Germany (-42.7%), and Spain (-34.4%). The declines recorded in Africa (-20.2%), Asia (-16.6%), and Oceania (-11.8%) were smaller but still significant.
The natural dynamic
The number of Italians residing abroad, therefore, increased in 2025, but at a slower pace than the previous year: from +4.6% recorded in 2024 to +2.8 percent. The data published by Istat indicate that the total, as of December 31, 2025, amounts to 6 million 604 thousand, an increase of 183 thousand units compared to the beginning of the year. Both men, who make up 51.6% of the Italian population abroad (3 million 406 thousand), and women, who total 3 million 197 thousand units, are growing.
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