Catholicism is very much part of the warp and weft of Italian life, as an inevitable social, cultural and political force that Italians take for granted. The deep and old cultural ties are made visible by the presence of more than 100,000 Catholic churches in the country. Catholicism still has a near religious monopoly in Italy. There is a small but ancient Jewish community in the heart of Rome and elsewhere, a growing Muslim immigrant population, and sizeable numbers of agnostics and atheists to challenge that religious monopoly, but the monopoly is still very real. Protestantism, and the spirit of the Protestant Reformation, never took root in Italy. Read more...
National Demographics
Religious Affiliation
Chart source: Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures Project, 2010
Total Population
59,290,969 1
Urban
70.40% 1
Rural
29.60% 1
Immigrants as % of Population
9.7% 2
Homicides
0.78 per 100,000 people (global median 6.9) 3
Level of Public Corruption
60 (1=lowest, 176=highest corruption) 4
Gender Equality in the Economy, Health, Education and Politics
50 (1=most equal, 144=least equal) 7
Fertility Rate
1.46 births per adult woman 5
Children Who Do Not Live to Age 5
0.40% 5
Life Expectancy at Birth
83 years 5
Adult Literacy Rate
99.07% 5
Internet Users
62% 5
Gross National Income per Capita
US$34,270 5
Catholic Demographics
These statistics are derived from the Vatican's official publication, Statistical Yearbook of the Church 2020 (Vatican City: Librera Editrice Vaticana, 2022). The numbers may differ from data reported by other sources on this site.
Baptized Catholics
57,954,000
Baptized Catholics as % of Total Population
97.17
Baptisms per Year (Under age 7)
279,174
Baptisms per Year (Over age 7)
3,724
First Communions per Year
361,834
Confirmations per Year
343,247
Students Enrolled in Catholic Primary Schools
123,331
Students Enrolled in Catholic Secondary Schools
127,952
Students Enrolled in Catholic Higher Education
331,693
Church Marriages per Year
80,993
Church Marriages in Which Both Spouses are Catholics
1 United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2018). World Urbanization Prospects: The 2018 Revision, Online Edition.
2 United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Trends in International Migrant Stock: The 2015 revision.
3 United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime, Homicide Statistics 2015.
4 Transparency International, Corruption Perceptions Index 2016.