On Dec. 26, 2025, Pagliara Dei Marsi, a shrinking village on the slopes of Italyβs Abruzzo mountains with barely 20 residents and more cats than people, welcomed its first baby in almost three decades, as reported by The Guardian.
Italy recorded just 369,944 births in 2024, the lowest in its history, with fertility falling to 1.18 children per woman. The decline is most acute in fragile rural regions, where ageing populations, youth emigration, insecure work, inadequate child care, school closures and collapsing services reinforce a cycle of abandonment. Financial incentives such as baby bonuses offer symbolic relief but fail to address deeper structural failures, precarious employment, weak maternal health care, and the steady retreat of the state from peripheral regions.
A few months earlier, Greece, alarmed by similar trends, announced a 1.6 billion euros package to counter population decline.
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