Italy — Country Profile
Population, GDP, natural resources, leaders and history of Italy: the Magna Factbook country file, with its Magna Power score (--/100, ranked #-- of 195).
Last updated: October 2026
Italy is in Southern Europe, a peninsula extending into the central Mediterranean Sea, northeast of Tunisia. It covers 301,340 sq km. Terrain: mostly rugged and mountainous; some plains, coastal lowlands. Climate: predominantly Mediterranean; alpine in far north; hot, dry in south.
| 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% (2024 est.) |
| Unemployment | 6.8% (2024 est.) |
| 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 years (2025 est.) |
| 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) |
Italy’s GDP is $3.133 trillion (2024 est.) in purchasing-power-parity terms. At official exchange rates it stands at $2.373 trillion (2024 est.). Real GDP grew 0.7% (2024 est.). See where Italy ranks among all 195 countries by GDP.
POWER --/100 — The Magna Power score is our 0–100 composite of structural national power — nine components, 135 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.
- What our model rewards: inflation tamed at 1.0%; a current-account surplus of $27 billion — the world pays it more than it pays out
- What drags it down: fertility of 1.3 children per woman — below replacement, the cradle is emptying; public debt above 132% of GDP — the budget's ball and chain
Coal, Antimony, Mercury, Zinc, Potash, Marble, Barite, Asbestos, Sulfur, Oil.
Energy is the physical base of economic power — what a country can generate, move and burn decides what it can build, sell and defend.
| Electricity access | 100% (2022 est.) |
|---|---|
| Installed capacity mix (CIA) | fossil fuels: 56% of total installed capacity (2023 est.); solar: 12% of total installed capacity (2023 est.); wind: 9.1% of total installed capacity (2023 est.); hydroelectricity: 14.7% of total installed capacity (2023 est.); geothermal: 2.1% of total installed capacity (2023 est.) |
| Energy consumption per capita (CIA) | 96.797 million Btu/person (2023 est.) |
| Primary energy consumption (OWID) | 1,696.3 TWh (2024) |
| Electricity generation (OWID) | 264.6 TWh (2024) |
| Energy per capita (OWID) | 28,585 kWh per person (2024) |
| Electricity generation mix (OWID) | Gas 44.0%, Hydro 19.2%, Solar 13.5%, Wind 8.5%, Oil 4.9%, Coal 1.8% (2024) |
| Low-carbon share of electricity (OWID) | 49.3% (2024) |
| Carbon intensity of electricity (OWID) | 287.5 gCO2/kWh (2024) |
Sources: CIA World Factbook, Energy section; Our World in Data (IEA/Ember), 2024.
Trade shows what the world buys from a country and what the country must buy from the world — the balance between the two is a direct measure of economic leverage.
| Exports | $778.898 billion (2024 est.) |
|---|---|
| Imports | $717.278 billion (2024 est.) |
| Trade balance (calculated) | Surplus of $61.6 billion (2024), calculated from the CIA export and import figures above. |
| Key industries | tourism, machinery, iron and steel, chemicals, food processing, textiles, motor vehicles, clothing, footwear, ceramics |
Source: CIA World Factbook, Economy section.
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) |
Major airports
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.
Terminals
| 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
POWER --/100 Ranked #-- of 195 countries in the Magna Country Rankings. Full ranking breakdown for Italy.
This profile covers the population, economy, natural resources, leaders, and history of Italy — with the Bureau’s live national-power score of --/100, ranking #-- of 195 countries.
What is Italy's power score?
Italy has a Magna Power score of --/100. The score measures structural power — the proven capacity to shape events — across nine components.