Jennifer Mendoza
Research expert covering health, pharma and medtech
State of health in Italy - Statistics & Facts
The Mediterranean peninsula is one of the healthiest countries in the world and enjoys the seventh highest life expectancy worldwide as of 2024. Aging, as well as lifestyle choices and genetic predispositions, have a great impact on people’s health. Roughly 23.7 million individuals in Italy suffer from at least one chronic disease, while around 12.2 have at least two. Cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, osteoporosis, and arthritis are some examples.
Risk factors and behaviors
When considering risk factors and risk behaviors, tendencies have been changing over time. For example, rates of smoking or consuming excessive amounts of alcohol in Italy have declined. The share of daily smokers decreased by over three percent in the last decade, amounting to 19.3 percent in 2023. As of 2022, over six percent of females in Italy consumed excessive amounts of alcohol, about four percent less compared to 2007. Among males this figure was 13 percent in 2022, compared to 22.4 percent of males consuming excessive amounts of alcohol in 2007. Conversely, the number of individuals suffering from obesity has increased steadily in recent years, and the obesity rate among adults has reached 11.4 percent in 2023. Being overweight or obese have become issues even among children, which can cause serious health problems later in life.Diseases related deaths
In 2020, Italy was hit by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Despite the counter measures implemented by the government in an effort to control the spread of the virus, which included among others a very strict lockdown, Italy became one of the most affected countries in Europe and in the world. During the first year of the pandemic, Covid-19 was the health condition causing one of the largest number of deaths in Italy. Ischemic heart diseases, cerebrovascular diseases, and neoplasms of the respiratory system followed. Despite claiming fewer lives compared to other conditions, it is worth noting how deaths caused by mental and behavioral disorders (among them dementia, alcohol abuse, and drug dependence), and by diseases of the nervous system (such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease) appear to have increased significantly. Conversely, the cancer mortality rate in Italy has decreased steadily over the last decade.
