Population, GDP, natural resources, leaders and history of Italy: the Magna Factbook country file, with its Magna grade (MBA, ranked #16 of 195).
Italy is a parliamentary republic in Southern Europe, a peninsula extending into the central Mediterranean Sea, northeast of Tunisia. The country's capital is Rome; it covers 301,340 sq km. Independence: 17 March 1861. Terrain: mostly rugged and mountainous; some plains, coastal lowlands. Climate: predominantly Mediterranean; alpine in far north; hot, dry in south. Population: 60.9 million (2025 estimate). Population growth: +0.05% per year. Median age: 48.8 years. Life expectancy: 83 years (2024 est.). Languages: Italian (official), German (parts of Trentino-Alto Adige region are predominantly German-speaking), French (small French-speaking minority in Valle d'Aosta region), Slovene (Slove…
| Capital | Rome |
|---|---|
| Population | 60,924,851 (2025 est.) |
| GDP (PPP) | $3.133 trillion (2024 est.) |
| GDP per capita (PPP) | $53,100 (2024 est.) |
| Real GDP growth | 0.7% (2024 est.) |
| Inflation | 1.0% |
| Unemployment | 6.8% |
| Public debt | 131.8% of GDP (2017 est.) |
| Exports | $778.898 billion (2024 est.) |
| Imports | $717.278 billion (2024 est.) |
| Life expectancy | 83 years (2024 est.) |
| Median age | 48.8 |
| Urbanization | 72% of total population (2023) |
| Government | parliamentary republic |
| Independence | 17 March 1861 |
| Languages | Italian (official), German (parts of Trentino-Alto Adige region are predominantly German-speaking), French (small French-speaking minority in Valle d'Aosta region), Slovene (Slovene-speaking minority in the Trieste-Gorizia area), Croatian (in Molise) |
MBA · 69/100 — The Magna grade is our 0–100 composite of structural national power — five dimensions, 100+ indicators. It is the Bureau's own assessment, not a mirror of World Bank or CIA figures.
Momentum +2 — Quarterly momentum: the Bureau's read on the country's trajectory over the last quarter, from −10 (deteriorating fast) to +10 (accelerating).
Stability remained Italy's achievement: the parliament-backed nuclear restart and the 30%-per-classroom decree showed a government still able to decide.
No shocks, modest forward motion — a quarter that kept Italy exactly on its steady course.
Coal, Antimony, Mercury, Zinc, Potash, Marble, Barite, Asbestos, Sulfur, Oil.
Giorgia Meloni — Prime Minister. President Sergio MATTARELLA (since 3 February 2015)
Italy maintains 124 embassies and 74 consulates abroad, hosts 139 foreign diplomatic missions, holds permanent missions to UN New York, UN Geneva, EU Brussels, NATO Brussels, OECD Paris, UNESCO Paris, OSCE Vienna, CoE Strasbourg. The breadth of a diplomatic network is a direct measure of diplomatic power — it shows how far a country’s influence, alliances and interests reach.
| Embassies abroad | 124 |
|---|---|
| Consulates abroad | 74 |
| Foreign missions hosted | 139 |
| Multilateral missions | UN New York, UN Geneva, EU Brussels, NATO Brussels, OECD Paris, UNESCO Paris, OSCE Vienna, CoE Strasbourg |
Source: Abroad: Lowy GDI 2024 via Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_number_of_diplomatic_missions . Hosted: Consular Affairs Center in-country ranking, Mar 2026 (Rome 139, excl. Holy See missions). Multilateral rosters as for AUT.
Transport networks are economic power made physical — ports, runways, railways and pipelines decide what a country can move, sell and defend.
| Sea access | Coastal — 7600 km of coastline. |
|---|---|
| Airports (total) | 655 + 163 heliports (registration prefix I) |
| Major seaports | Brindisi, Civitavecchia, Genova, Gioia Tauro, La Spezia, Livorno, Messina, Napoli, Porto di Lido-Venezia, Siracusa, Taranto, Trieste |
| Railways | 18475 km |
| Pipelines | 20,223 km gas, 1,393 km oil, 1,574 km refined products (2013) |
| Top container ports (TEU) | Gioia Tauro (3,146,553 TEU, 2021); Genoa (2,557,847 TEU, 2021) |
Abruzzo Airport (PSR) — Pescara; Bari Karol Wojtyła International Airport (BRI) — Bari; Bologna Guglielmo Marconi Airport (BLQ) — Bologna; Brindisi Airport (BDS) — Brindisi; Cagliari Elmas Airport (CAG) — Cagliari; Catania-Fontanarossa Airport (CTA) — Catania; Ciampino–G. B. Pastine International Airport (CIA) — Rome; Falcone–Borsellino Airport (PMO) — Palermo; Federico Fellini International Airport (RMI) — Rimini (RN); Florence Airport, Peretola (FLR) — Firenze (FI).
Showing 10 of 15 major airports.
| LNG import terminals | Panigaglia (La Spezia), Adriatic (Porto Levante), Oristano (Sardinia), Ravenna, Toscana (Livorno) |
|---|---|
| Oil terminals | Melilli (Santa Panagia) oil terminal, Sarroch oil terminal |
Sources: OurAirports public-domain extract (2026-10-02); per-entry Wikipedia links included; CIA World Factbook via cia_factbook snapshot (2026-09-28); theodora.com CIA mirror (CIA World Factbook Transportation section), scraped 2026-10-02
| Political system | parliamentary republic |
|---|---|
| Last election | 2022 — general; 2022-09-25; winner: Giorgia Meloni (Brothers of Italy); centre-right coalition majority; PM from 2022-10-22 Wikipedia |
| Next election | 2027 — general (scheduled) |
Source: constitutional schedule / public election calendar
MBA · 69 Ranked #16 of 195 countries in the Magna Country Rankings. Full ranking breakdown for Italy.
