Boosting Italy’s birthrate has become a patriotic cause for the far right. But it’s an idea that’s doomed

‘Elderly care isn’t necessarily a burden, but a business opportunity.’ Elderly men at a marketplace in Orgosolo, Sardinia, Italy. Photograph: imageBROKER/Alamy

Fifty years ago in Italy, there was one person over 65 for every child aged six or under. Just before Christmas, Italy’s national statistics office, Istat, revealed that the ratio is now 5.6 to 1. The population pyramid has been inverted, with 24% of the Italian population now over 65.

With the death rate rising every year, the Italian population decreases by around 180,000 people per annum. The population has just dipped below 59 million and if current trends continue it’s likely that by 2070 it will fall to 48 million.