Rome, Italy, November 14, 2022. REUTERS/Remo Casilli/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsROME, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Births in Italy are heading for a new record low this year, according to preliminary data that points to a deepening of the country's long-standing demographic crisis. Between January and June there were 3,500 fewer births than in the same period of 2022, the data from national statistics bureau ISTAT showed. In 2022 as a whole, births fell 1.7% to 393,000, a 14th consecutive drop and the lowest number since the country's unification in 1861. The rate is bolstered by immigrants, while among women of Italian nationality it stood at just 1.18 in 2022.

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Persons: Leonardo, Viviana Valente, Remo Casilli, Giorgia, women's, Antonella Cinelli, Gavin Jones, John Stonestreet Organizations: Santo Spirito Hospital, UN, REUTERS, Rights, for Economic Cooperation, Development, ISTAT, Thomson Locations: Rome, Italy