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IPFS News Link • Italy

Italian Births Fall 22% In December - Exactly Nine Months After Lockdowns Began

• https://www.zerohedge.com, by Tyler Durden

According to new figures out of Italy, bambino production is down by a staggering 21.6% across 15 Italian cities, according to Reuters, citing data from statistics agency ISTAT.

What's more, the impact from lockdowns is just getting started - with marriages falling by over 50% in the first 10 months of 2020, pointing to "a probable decline in births in the immediate future" according to ISTAT chief Gian Carlo Blangiardo.

Demographics experts have been predicting a baby bust across Europe for 2021, as the impact of last year's lockdowns is felt.

A survey conducted in five European countries during the March and April lockdown showed many people calling off plans to have kids. Germans and French were more likely to say they were delaying, while Italians were more likely to say they had abandoned their plans altogether.

Last year, Britain recorded a plunge in imports of baby carriages, to the lowest level since records began in 2000. (Yes, the Treasury counts imports of baby carriages. In tonnes.) -Reuters

And as Forbes reported on Wednesday, Italy isn't alone - as new research from Brookings points to a pandemic baby bust rather than a baby boom.


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