Every figure below carries its named source and year. The Eco Index scores twelve pillars on the same scale everywhere; seven are measured from published data with fixed thresholds, five are assessed from the named sources.
Italy at a Glance.
The score, and the four numbers that set the tone. 12 equally-weighted pillars, every pillar sourced.
Compare with:
Renewable power
49%
of electricity
Food imported
11%
of merchandise imports · ~US$75,002m a year
The Eco Index across 12 pillars · scored 0 to 5 · World Bank, OWID, WHO/UNICEF JMP, FiBL, Protected Planet, IUCN, UNESCO (2023-24)
Water
Food & farming
Plant-based
Organic
Conservation
Wildlife
Materials
Pollution
Recycling
Energy
Culture
Heritage
Facts That Surprise People About Italy.
The numbers and firsts that change how you see Italy, the sobering and the remarkable. Every one is dated and linked to its source.
SoberingHealth
43,000 deaths from fine particle pollution
The European Environment Agency attributes 43,083 deaths in Italy in 2023 to fine particulate pollution (PM2.5).
SoberingHealth
Almost three in ten children carry extra weight
In Italy's 2023 national survey of children aged 8 to 9, 19% were overweight and 9.8% were obese, including 2.6% with severe obesity.
SoberingNature
A bacterium killing olive trees
Xylella fastidiosa was found on olive trees in Puglia in October 2013, the first report in the EU. The EU food safety agency says millions of Italian olive trees are dead.
RemarkableEnvironment
Pesticide sales cut by 43%
Italy's pesticide sales fell by 43% between 2011 and 2024, the second sharpest fall among EU countries with comparable data, after Czechia.
RemarkableHealth
Fewest overweight people in the EU
In 2022, 41.3% of people aged 16 and over in Italy were overweight, the lowest share in the EU. The highest was Malta at 62.0%.
Source: Eurostat, Overweight and obesity: BMI statistics · 2022
RemarkableFood
Italian cooking is UNESCO heritage
In December 2025 a UNESCO committee meeting in New Delhi added Italian cuisine to its intangible cultural heritage list. The citation focused on everyday food rituals rather than single dishes.
RemarkableCulture
The pizza maker's craft is protected
The art of the Neapolitan pizzaiuolo was inscribed on UNESCO's intangible heritage list in 2017. About 3,000 pizzaiuoli live and work in Naples.
The History of Italy.
Italy sustains a broad living heritage, from opera and bel canto singing to regional folk forms such as the tarantella and Salento pizzica, Sardinian canto a tenore polyphony and Sicilian Opera dei Pupi puppet theatre. Community events including the Venice and Ivrea carnivals and the Palio di Siena remain deeply rooted, alongside Catholic patronal processions and ancestral seasonal rites across the regions.
Where the name comes from
Italia, usually traced to Vitelia or a related term for the calf, applied first to the far south and later to the whole peninsula. Source: UK Permanent Committee on Geographical Names toponymic factfile.
The land itself: rugged and mountainous for the most part, with plains and coastal lowlands. Its high point is Monte Bianco di Courmayeur, 4,748 m. Source: UK Permanent Committee on Geographical Names toponymic factfile.
Where it starts
Before Rome
Stone tools at Monte Poggiolo in Romagna are around 850,000 years old, among the earliest evidence of humans in Italy. From about 1800 BC the Nuragic civilisation built around 7,000 stone towers across Sardinia. The Etruscans held city-states across central Italy from roughly 900 BC with their own language, still only partly understood. Rome is one chapter of this, not the beginning of it.
How it got here
Empire, Renaissance, republic
Rome grew from city to republic to empire and left its law, engineering and language across three continents. Vesuvius buried Pompeii and Herculaneum in AD 79, preserving ordinary Roman life in extraordinary detail. From the fourteenth century Florence, Venice, Rome and Milan reshaped art, architecture, banking and science. The Italian states were unified in 1861, fascist rule from 1922 ended in war and resistance, and Italy became a republic by referendum in 1946, when women voted for the first time.
The timeline
c. 850,000 years ago
Monte Poggiolo.
Stone tools at Monte Poggiolo in northern Italy, dated to about 850,000 years ago, are among the earliest evidence of humans in Italy. Source
Late 2nd millennium BC
The Nuragic civilisation.
In the Bronze Age, Sardinia develops the nuraghi, circular stone defensive towers with no parallel anywhere else in the world. Source
9th to 1st century BC
The Etruscans.
Over nine centuries the Etruscans develop the earliest urban civilisation in the northern Mediterranean, leaving painted rock-cut tombs at Cerveteri and Tarquinia. Source
753 BC onward
Rome.
Founded according to legend in 753 BC, Rome becomes the centre of the Roman Republic, then of the Roman Empire, and of the Christian world from the 4th century. Source
AD 79
Pompeii and Herculaneum.
Vesuvius buries both towns on 24 August AD 79, and their excavated remains give a vivid picture of life in the early Roman Empire. Source
15th and 16th centuries
The Renaissance.
Florence, the symbol of the Renaissance, rises to economic and cultural pre-eminence under the Medici, with masters such as Brunelleschi, Botticelli and Michelangelo. Source
1861
Unification.
Most of the peninsula is unified under the House of Savoy in 1861, and Venetia and the former Papal States, including Rome, join by 1871. Source
1922 to 1943
Fascism.
Mussolini becomes prime minister in October 1922 and builds a one-party dictatorship. In 1943 he is removed, Italy surrenders to the Allies, and German troops occupy central and northern Italy. Source
1946
The republic.
In a referendum on 2 June 1946 Italians choose a republic, and women vote in a national poll for the first time. Source
UNESCO World Heritage, Su Nuraxi di Barumini · Istituto Italiano di Preistoria e Protostoria · UNESCO World Heritage, Etruscan Necropolises of Cerveteri and Tarquinia · UNESCO World Heritage, Historic Centre of Rome · UNESCO World Heritage, Archaeological Areas of Pompei, Herculaneum and Torre Annunziata · UNESCO World Heritage, Historic Centre of Florence · US Office of the Historian, Italy · United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Italy · Consiglio regionale del Piemonte, 2 June 1946 anniversary booklet · Muttoni et al. 2011, First dated human occupation of Italy at about 0.85 Ma, Earth and Planetary Science Letters
Nature and Biodiversity in Italy.
Protected areas cover about 21% of land and 11% of the sea (World Bank, 2025), including 25 national parks such as Gran Paradiso and Abruzzo. Coverage is strong and marine protection is meaningful, though hunting pressure and coastal development remain concerns.
Is wild Italy protected? 21.5% of the land is, against a 30% target for 2030
How protected is nature in Italy?
Forest cover31.8%
Terrestrial protected area21.5%
Marine protected area11%
222 (mammals, birds, fish & plants) listed as threatened.
Found only here. Marsican brown bear; Sardinian and Corsican island forms
The watchlist
ThreatenedVanellus gregarius Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Italy in GBIF occurrence data (bird).
ThreatenedCommon thread turtle (Mauremys sinensis) Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Italy in GBIF occurrence data (turtle).
ThreatenedLanzas fire salamander (Salamandra lanzai) Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Italy in GBIF occurrence data (amphibian).
ThreatenedGwynne's Mining Bee (Andrena bicolor) Least Concern in the IUCN European Red List of Bees, and not listed on the global IUCN Red List, though it is recorded in Italy in GBIF occurrence data (insect).
ThreatenedCallianthemum kernerianum Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Italy in GBIF occurrence data (plant).
ThreatenedAnguilla anguilla Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Italy in GBIF occurrence data (species).
ThreatenedPen Shell (Pinna nobilis) Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Italy in GBIF occurrence data (species).
ThreatenedChondrostoma soetta Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Italy in GBIF occurrence data (species).
What is still here, and what is gone?
Tap a species for the honest status.
Closest to being lost, by name
Vanellus gregarius
Critically Endangered, the last IUCN category before Extinct in the Wild, and still recorded in Italy. GBIF holds 1 verified occurrence records.
Common thread turtle (Mauremys sinensis)
Critically Endangered, the last IUCN category before Extinct in the Wild, and still recorded in Italy. GBIF holds 14 verified occurrence records.
Lanzas fire salamander (Salamandra lanzai)
Critically Endangered, the last IUCN category before Extinct in the Wild, and still recorded in Italy. GBIF holds 138 verified occurrence records.
Species named here are drawn from GBIF occurrence records for Italy filtered to the IUCN Red List threatened categories. Species are listed where GBIF holds occurrence records for them in this country. Record counts are not published here because the figure cannot be reproduced from a public GBIF query.
Who is putting it back
National park in Trentino, Alto Adige/Südtirol, mapped and named in the open record for Italy. OpenStreetMap.
National park in Aosta Valley, mapped and named in the open record for Italy. OpenStreetMap.
National park in Abruzzo, mapped and named in the open record for Italy. OpenStreetMap.
National park in Basilicata, mapped and named in the open record for Italy. OpenStreetMap.
National park in Piedmont, mapped and named in the open record for Italy. OpenStreetMap.
National park in Apulia, mapped and named in the open record for Italy. OpenStreetMap.
Water and Ocean in Italy.
Northern Italy is water-rich, fed by Alpine rivers, great lakes and Apennine springs, and about 97% of people have safely managed drinking water (JMP, 2024). But the south and Sicily face severe recurrent drought, the Po hit record lows in 2022, and distribution networks lose roughly a third of their water to leaks.
Does Italy have enough fresh water? Yes, with headroom
96.8% of people here have safely managed drinking water at home (2024, WHO/UNICEF JMP). Tap water is safe for a visitor nearly everywhere.
Cleanest water: Alpine lakes and mountain spring rivers
How much fresh water does Italy have, per person?
3,093 m³
Italy
1,000 m³
the UN “water scarce” line
Italy withdraws about 33,783 million cubic metres of fresh water a year (2022). That is 29.8% of the fresh water actually available to it, which FAO counts as medium water stress. Of what is taken, farming takes 50%, homes and towns 27%, industry 23%. Source: FAO AQUASTAT.
What are the rules on Italy beaches?
·Tap water: Varies.
✓Plastic rules: EU single-use plastic ban in force; national plastic tax repeatedly delayed.
✓Solo travel: rated easy on the record for this destination.
✕Marine protection: 11% of the sea is protected. The 30x30 pledge for 2030 is not met yet.
Named on the open map: Bagni Ausonia, Bagni Lido, Bagni Miramare, Bagni Regina Giovanna, Ezzi Mannu Beach, Lido Brancolino. They are a handful of the many named beaches in the public record for Italy, each one a place you can look up before you go. OpenStreetMap.
Where does the sewage go?
78.2%
of people have safely managed sanitation
78.2% of people here use a safely managed sanitation service, meaning waste is contained, emptied and treated rather than reaching the ground or the sea untreated (2024, World Bank / WHO-UNICEF JMP, SDG 6.2.1). The rest is what the rivers and the coast receive.
How is the sea around Italy doing?
One cross-section, every answer measured.
Surface
What the coast carries
Hot summers, mild winters; August is crowded and the sun is fierce.
Nearshore
Protected water
11% of territorial waters are protected, against the 30% pledged for 2030 under the Global Biodiversity Framework.
Cleanest
Where the water is cleanest
Alpine lakes and mountain spring rivers.
The record
Measured
Northern Italy is water-rich, fed by Alpine rivers, great lakes and Apennine springs, and about 97% of people have safely managed drinking water (JMP, 2024). But the south and Sicily face severe recurrent drought, the Po hit record lows in 2022, and distribution networks lose roughly a third of their water to leaks.
Italy scored 74 out of 100 on the Ocean Health Index in its 2025 assessment, above the global average of 72, and ranked 81st of 220 coastal regions. The index team says it is no longer updating scores, so the 2025 figures may be the last.
Sea protected
11%
Against the 30% pledged for 2030 under the Global Biodiversity Framework.
Threatened species
222 (mammals, birds, fish & plants)
Mammals, birds, fish and higher plants on the IUCN list.
Is the tap water safe in Italy?
96.8% of people have safely managed drinking water at home (2024, WHO/UNICEF JMP). Renewable fresh water works out at about 3,093 cubic metres per person a year (World Bank).
How hard is the water supply being pushed?
Of every 10 buckets nature refills, 3 are already taken. Withdrawals run at 29.8% of what Italy renews internally each year (2022, World Bank / FAO AQUASTAT). That is past the 25% mark generally treated as water stress, so the supply is being pushed towards its limit.
When is the best time to visit Italy? Tap your month.
Tap your month.
How much fresh water does Italy actually have?
Nature renews about 3,093 cubic metres of fresh water per person per year here. That ranks Italy 109 of 208 countries measured, putting it in the wetter half of the world. The UN treats anything under 1,000 cubic metres as water scarce, and this is above that line. World Bank / FAO AQUASTAT.
Food and Drink in Italy.
Italy is one of Europe's agricultural powerhouses, largely self-sufficient in fruit, vegetables, wine, olive oil and rice, though a net importer of cereals, animal feed and meat. Orchards, vineyards and market gardens remain woven through the landscape and economy.
Where does the food in Italy come from?
11.2% imported
about US$75,002m a year
On the plate: Pasta and bread, olive oil, vegetables, legumes, tomatoes
1 of 10
bites are imported
The island buys in more food energy than it eats. About US$75,002m a year leaves the country to pay for it. The green slice is roughly what still grows here.
About 11.2% of everything Italy buys in from abroad is food, roughly 1 in every 10 imported items on the dock (2024, World Bank). Farming itself is 2.1% of the economy and 44.3% of the land is agricultural, of which 24% is arable. The green slice is roughly what still grows here.
What is killing people in Italy? The imported diet.
Cause of death, and the diet behind it.
Non-communicable diseases, all combined81.5%
Diabetes7.7%
OECD figures show 2.7 major lower limb amputations linked to diabetes per 100,000 people aged 15 and over in Italy in 2023, down from 2.9 in 2022, plus 8.2 minor amputations, such as toes, per 100,000. Both rates are age and sex standardised and come from hospital data reported to the OECD. Chile, for comparison, recorded 11.8 major amputations per 100,000 in 2023. Source: OECD Healthcare Quality and Outcomes.
Adults living with overweight or obesity. 49.2%.
Can Italy feed itself?
23.5%
Arable land
44.3%
Agricultural land
858,916
Farmers
17,506,097
Arable acres
2.1%
Agriculture, share of GDP
Harvest: Grape harvest September to October; olive harvest October to December
Feeding itself
Italy is one of Europe's agricultural powerhouses, largely self-sufficient in fruit, vegetables, wine, olive oil and rice, though a net importer of cereals, animal feed and meat. Orchards, vineyards and market gardens remain woven through the landscape and economy.
Certification
About 19.5% of Italy's agricultural land is organic (Eurostat, 2024 data), among the highest shares in the world and still rising under national and EU targets.
Water for crops
Northern Italy is water-rich, fed by Alpine rivers, great lakes and Apennine springs, and about 97% of people have safely managed drinking water (JMP, 2024). But the south and Sicily face severe recurrent drought, the Po hit record lows in 2022, and distribution networks lose roughly a third of their water to leaks.
Why the organic number looks like that. Certification covers only part of what is grown cleanly, so a small certified share is a gap in the paperwork rather than proof that nothing is. What the official land record does show: 44.3% of the country is agricultural land and 24% is arable (2023, World Bank). Certification is paid for per farm per year by a foreign body, which prices out smallholders, so the organic number reads worse than the practice.
What actually grows here
WheatGrapesTomatoesMaizeOlivesApplesOrangesSugar beetsRice
The food that already fits
The plant-based kitchen here is not an import. By tonnage, the largest crops grown in Italy are grapes, wheat, tomatoes, maize and apples (FAO, FAOSTAT crop production, 2024). That is what the land itself puts on a plate.
Buy direct where residents buy: Orto Didattico E Fattoria Di Animazione, Tulipani-Italiani Pick Your Own Tulips, Castel Cerreto Soc. Coop. Agricola, Fattoria Vasadonna. Every one is a farm shop we have checked and listed ourselves, so the money goes to the grower rather than the importer. The checked list
Not yet checked by us. Plant based kitchens listed publicly: Nativa Ristorante, vegan restaurant in Rome: Italian staples such as aubergine parmigiana and lasagne, and Livorno style tempeh; Le Bistrot, family run vegan restaurant on Via delle Sette Chiese in Rome: changing Italian courses such as paccheri all'amatriciana and seitan scaloppine; Flower Burger, vegan burger bar on Via Alessandria in Rome: coloured buns, crispy aubergines and potato wedges; Radagast, vegan bakery near Teano metro in Rome: cheesecake, tiramisu, cinnamon rolls and sandwiches. Tell us how they are.
Is this grown in Italy?
Tap a food for the honest answer.
PastaBreadOlive oilVegetablesLegumesTomatoes
World Bank Open Data · FAO, FAOSTAT crop production · World Health Organization · FAO AQUASTAT · Spinach, Nativa Ristorante, Rome · Spinach, Le Bistrot, Rome · Spinach, Flower Burger, Rome · Spinach, Radagast, Rome · OECD Data Explorer, Primary care: diabetes lower extremity amputation (Healthcare quality and outcomes)
Climate and Energy in Italy.
Italy draws about half of its electricity from renewables, with solar near 17% alongside hydropower and the geothermal fields of Larderello, the world's first geothermal power site (Ember, 2025). Its territorial CO2 emissions were about 5.1 tonnes per person in 2024 (Our World in Data, Global Carbon Project), among the lower figures in Western Europe. Natural gas remains the largest single source of power, and Italy targets climate neutrality by 2050 in line with the EU. The mix of moderate emissions and moderate renewables places it in the middle band.
What powers Italy?
Renewable 48.7%Fossil 51.3%
Terna, based in Rome, owns about 98 per cent of Italy's high voltage transmission grid, some 75,905 km of lines, and is responsible for transmitting and dispatching electricity across it. Its largest shareholder is CDP Reti, with 29.9 per cent, while institutional investors hold 56.6 per cent and retail investors 13.3 per cent (2025 annual report). As a natural monopoly it is regulated by ARERA, the Italian Regulatory Authority for Energy, Networks and Environment.
Climate pollution per person
The safe amount, what the planet can absorb
2 tonnes
One person here
5.08 tonnes
The world average, for comparison
4.7 tonnes
The worst it ever got
8.51 tonnes
The grid
Italy draws about half of its electricity from renewables, with solar near 17% alongside hydropower and the geothermal fields of Larderello, the world's first geothermal power site (Ember, 2025). Its territorial CO2 emissions were about 5.1 tonnes per person in 2024 (Our World in Data, Global Carbon Project), among the lower figures in Western Europe.
Pollution
The Po Valley is one of Europe's most polluted air basins, and national PM2.5 averages about 14 µg/m³ (World Bank, 2023). Italy applies EU single-use plastic rules and recycles well, but pollution hotspots such as the Terra dei Fuochi near Naples and industrial Taranto persist.
Water stress
Northern Italy is water-rich, fed by Alpine rivers, great lakes and Apennine springs, and about 97% of people have safely managed drinking water (JMP, 2024). But the south and Sicily face severe recurrent drought, the Po hit record lows in 2022, and distribution networks lose roughly a third of their water to leaks.
What pollutes most here
1The grid The share of electricity still generated from fossil fuel.59%
2Industry Po Valley heavy industry and the Taranto steelworks.named
3Air Modelled annual mean against a WHO guideline of 5 µg/m³.14.3 µg/m³ (PM2.5)
4On the record The Po Valley is one of Europe's most polluted air basins, and national PM2.5 averages about 14 µg/m³ (World Bank, 2023).
What has Italy promised on climate?
Net zero, whole economy2050
Electricity renewable today41% (2021)
Land protected, against a 30% target21.5% by 2025
Sea protected, against a 30% target11% by 2025
The net-zero target year on file with Climate Watch is 2050, status: in policy document; in political pledge. Measured against it, 41% of electricity is already renewable (2021, World Bank), so 59% of the grid is still to be converted. The pledge on file is measured here against what has actually been delivered, not taken on its own (UNFCCC NDC Registry, CBD Kunming-Montreal Target 3).
The biggest line item
One return flight against a whole year of living.
A resident's entire year5.08 t CO2e
Safe-climate budget, per year2 t CO2e
Sydney return, economy2.94 t CO2e
Los Angeles return, economy1.84 t CO2e
Singapore return, economy1.81 t CO2e
Johannesburg return, economy1.39 t CO2e
New York return, economy1.24 t CO2e
How much CO2 does flying to Italy emit?
Tap where you would fly from. One return flight, economy.
Firsts on climate finance. The Italian Treasury issued its first green government bond, the BTP Green, on 3 March 2021, maturing on 30 April 2045. It has kept issuing them since, under a Green Bond Framework last updated in December 2025. In January 2026 it reopened the BTP Green 2046 by syndicate, and on 22 September 2026 it placed a new BTP Green maturing in 2038.
Climate Watch (WRI) · UNFCCC NDC Registry · World Bank Open Data · UK DESNZ greenhouse gas conversion factors · Wikipedia, Terna Group (citing Terna Annual Report 2025) · Ministry of Economy and Finance, Department of the Treasury, BTP Green · Ministry of Economy and Finance, Department of the Treasury, BTP Green placement results
AI and Data Centres in Italy.
Every prompt runs on a machine in a building on somebody’s grid. What that costs the planet depends less on the prompt than on what is burning to power it. Here is what would power one in Italy.
Data centres
105
Registered colocation and interconnection facilities, PeeringDB, 2026
Grid renewable
48.7 %
What a machine here runs on.
What powers a data centre in Italy?
Most of the power behind a machine here is still burned.
Renewable 48.7%Fossil 51.3%
Cooling water. Every one of those halls runs on the national grid, which is 41% renewable today (World Bank). A data centre is only as clean as the electricity behind it, so the same figure that decides this country's climate score also decides the footprint of the AI running inside it. Cooling water use is not separately published by facility, and no operator here reports it.
The rules. Italy has 105 colocation and interconnection facilities on the public PeeringDB register, concentrated in Milan (18), Rome (10), Turin (7), alongside 23 internet exchanges (MIX-IT, TOP-IX, Namex Rome, MINAP Milan). Named sites include Templus DC Milan MIL01, Telnet Caldera Milan, ITGate PdF (TRN1/TRN2), Piceno Datacenter.
Where the cables land. 55 landing points · Alicudi Porto, Bari, Cagliari, Cala d'Oliva
Economy and Tourism in Italy.
38% residents to 62% visitors across a year. 95,399,000 international arrivals in 2019 against 58,915,656 people who live here (2025, World Bank / UN Tourism).
Where a visitor dollar goes in Italy
38,419k
Visitors a year
0.7
Visitors per resident
How deep in debt is Italy?· for every $100 Italy earns in a year, it owes…
Pay to the order of: the creditorsmemo · the 2020 peak
$ 154The worst year on the IMF record. Italy owed $154 for every $100 it earned.
IMF World Economic Outlook, 2020signed, the creditors
Pay to the order of: the creditorsmemo · today
$ 138What is owed now, for every $100 of national income (2026).
IMF World Economic Outlook, 2026signed, the creditors
Pay to the order of: the creditorsmemo · projected 2031
$ 136The IMF's own forecast has this falling to $136 by 2031.
IMF World Economic Outlook projection, 2031signed, the forecast
For every $100 Italy earns in a year, it owes $138 (2026, IMF World Economic Outlook). That is more than a full year of national income, and the interest is paid before anything else.
Where does a tourist dollar actually go in Italy?
Play one tourist dollar around the board. Every square is a measured fact from this page.
START!
1
GO: a visitor lands
$100 goes on the table. 95,399,000 international arrivals in 2019 against 58,915,656 residents, 1.6 visitors for every resident (World Bank / UN Tourism).
$100 in play2
The bed
Who owns the largest places to stay in Italy is not published in the records we can check, so this square is left open rather than guessed. Where a listing names its owner, it is shown in the ownership table below.
not published3
The plate
Food is only 11.2% of everything Italy imports (2024, World Bank), so most of a meal is bought from producers inside the country. Eating what the land here actually grows, wheat, grapes, tomatoes, maize, olives, apples, oranges, sugar beets, rice, keeps that money with the grower.
mostly home-grown4
The power
41% of the electricity is renewable (2021, World Bank), so the energy on the bill is mostly generated inside the country rather than shipped in.
made at home5
What actually stays
Of the two parts of a visitor's bill that can be measured here, the plate and the power stay inside Italy. This is not an economy where a visitor's money drains away, and the board is shorter for it.
most of it6
Pay the bank first
Italy owes $138 for every $100 it earns (IMF World Economic Outlook, 2026 projection). The interest is paid before anything else on this board.
$138 per $1007
A spread hand
The largest single export, machinery and mechanical appliances, is 17.2% of the total (2023, UN Comtrade). No one shock can take the whole board.
top export 17.2%8
Community chest
Tourism earns 3.7% of everything Italy makes from exports (2020, World Bank / UN Tourism). That is how much of the economy depends on the game continuing.
3.7% of exports9
The flight
Getting here is usually the biggest single line on the bill. From Sydney a return economy seat is 2.94 t CO2, on the UK Government's published conversion factors. It is the one part of the trip this board cannot reduce.
2.94 t CO210
Back to GO
The economy turns over about US$2,738 billion a year (IMF World Economic Outlook, 2026 projection). Every lap of this board is a choice about how much of it stays.
US$2,738bnGDPUS$2,551.6bn
Agriculture, share of GDP2.1%
Visitors a year38,419,000
Visitors per resident0.7
Residents~58,915,656
Agriculture
Farming is 2.1% of the economy. Italy is one of Europe's agricultural powerhouses, largely self-sufficient in fruit, vegetables, wine, olive oil and rice, though a net importer of cereals, animal feed and meat.
Natural materials
Natural-materials traditions stay alive, from Biella and Prato wool to Como silk, plus linen, leather and a growing hemp revival. Many of these remain working industries rather than heritage alone.
Energy
Italy draws about half of its electricity from renewables, with solar near 17% alongside hydropower and the geothermal fields of Larderello, the world's first geothermal power site (Ember, 2025). Its territorial CO2 emissions were about 5.1 tonnes per person in 2024 (Our World in Data, Global Carbon Project), among the lower figures in Western Europe.
Who owns the biggest hotels in Italy?
By rooms · company records and press.
Vegan Agrivilla I Pini · ~11 roomsIndependentnot published
Vegan Hotel La Vimea · ~40 roomsIndependentnot published
Agriturismo & AgriCamping Le Nosare · ~6 roomsIndependentnot published
Eco Hotel Ariston · ~22 roomsIndependentnot published
Hotel Saltus · ~28 roomsIndependentnot published
Visitors, over time
201581,068k
201684,925k
201789,931k
201893,229k
201995,399k
202038,419k
International tourism receipts run at about US$20.46 billion in 2020 (World Bank / UN Tourism). That is 3.7% of everything the country earns from exports.
How much of your money actually stays here?
Tap the holiday you are planning.
Visiting Italy, whoever you are.
Resort guest, villa renter, family, nomad or backpacker. The honest playbook for each, from the same sourced numbers.
Already booked a resort? · the rescue list
Five swaps that move your money back on-island
1. Eat where the country eats Choose kitchens cooking pasta and bread, olive oil, vegetables, legumes, tomatoes over imported menus. The checked list
2. Book with a local operator Never the lobby desk. The margin on a tour is the part that stays.
3. Stay somewhere locally owned Ownership decides where the room rate books. Eco stays
4. Use the transport residents use Extensive rail network including high-speed trains, plus regional buses
5. Buy the craft, not the souvenir Natural-materials work made here pays the maker directly; imported gifts pay a shipping line.
Swipe
First time here
Italy combines Europe-leading organic farming, a produce-rich Mediterranean diet and deeply rooted regional cultures with serious Po Valley air pollution and worsening southern water stress.
Best time: Spring and early autumn
Getting around
Extensive rail network including high-speed trains, plus regional buses
Transport is where the fare either stays or leaves.
Eating here
The everyday plate is pasta and bread, olive oil, vegetables, legumes, tomatoes. The Mediterranean diet is native here, built on vegetables, legumes, wholegrains, olive oil and fruit, so eating unprocessed plant food is effortless.
Eating what the country grows is the cheapest way to cut the import bill.
Good to know
Cards widely accepted; EUR. Cash for small shops and market stalls.
Rate my hotel. Tap yours for the honest verdict.
Ownership from company records and press.
Who owns the big hotels
Vegan Agrivilla I PiniIndependent · 11 rooms
Vegan Hotel La VimeaIndependent · 40 rooms
Agriturismo & AgriCamping Le NosareIndependent · 6 rooms
Eco Hotel AristonIndependent · 22 rooms
Hotel SaltusIndependent · 28 rooms
None of the 5 properties listed here publishes who ultimately owns it, so no claim is made either way. Ownership is what decides how much of a room rate stays in the country, which is why we show it when a listing states it.
Society and Governance in Italy.
How well is Italy actually run?
Governance, measured · World Bank WGI
Four measured answers, none of them opinion. Averaged across corruption control, delivery and accountability, Italy scores 67 out of 100 (2024, World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators). That is a state that generally does what it says it will do, which is what makes a climate pledge worth reading.
What is daily life in Italy really like? Measured
Getting around, breathing, throwing away, learning. The honest checklist.
TransportAirWaterWastePower
✓How you get around Extensive rail network including high-speed trains, plus regional buses
99.4%
literacy. Public spending on education runs at 4.1% of GDP and 7.4% of all government spending, and secondary enrolment stands at 100.7% gross (UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2022 to 2023).
Made in Italy.
Natural-materials traditions stay alive, from Biella and Prato wool to Como silk, plus linen, leather and a growing hemp revival. Many of these remain working industries rather than heritage alone. Every step of processing done at home is value that stops leaving the country.
What Italy actually sells the world
The single biggest thing Italy sells the world is machinery and mechanical appliances, 17.2% of all exports in 2023 (about US$116.55 billion, UN Comtrade). The next four are vehicles at 8.0%, pharmaceuticals at 7.4%, electrical machinery and electronics at 6.6%, plastics at 3.6%.
Made now · natural materials
Natural-materials traditions stay alive
Worked in Italy from local material, and still a working craft rather than a museum piece.
Made now · natural materials
Prato wool to Como silk
Worked in Italy from local material, and still a working craft rather than a museum piece.
Made now · natural materials
Linen
Worked in Italy from local material, and still a working craft rather than a museum piece.
Made now · natural materials
Leather
Worked in Italy from local material, and still a working craft rather than a museum piece.
Made now · natural materials
Growing hemp revival. Many of these remain working industries rather than heritage alone
Worked in Italy from local material, and still a working craft rather than a museum piece.
Could make · grown here already
Pasta
Grown in Italy and mostly sold raw. Processing it here would keep the margin here.
Could make · grown here already
Bread
Grown in Italy and mostly sold raw. Processing it here would keep the margin here.
Could make · grown here already
Olive oil
Grown in Italy and mostly sold raw. Processing it here would keep the margin here.
The maths for an entrepreneur. Italy produces about US$2,552 billion a year, which is roughly US$43,309 per person (2025, World Bank). Farming is 2.1% of that, while food is 11.2% of everything the country imports. The country buys in more food than its own farms contribute to the economy, and every point of that gap is a business someone could build here rather than ship in. With 24% of the land arable, the raw material for that is already in the ground.
See the verified makersCulture in Italy.
Opera
Italian opera singing, a trained way of singing that boosts the carrying power of the voice, was added to UNESCO's intangible heritage list in 2023.
Tarantella
A family of lively southern Italian folk dances, from the tarantella of Gargano to the pizzica of Salento, still played at summer festivals in Puglia.
August
Salento pizzica folk dances
The Salento form of the tarantella, once danced as a folk cure for women believed bitten by a spider. Each August it fills the La Notte della Taranta concert in Melpignano, held since 1998.
Sardinian canto a tenore polyphonyPastoral songs sung by four men in four voices, called bassu, contra, boche and mesu boche, mostly in Barbagia and central Sardinia.
Early 19th centurySicilian Opera dei Pupi puppet theatreSicilian puppet theatre with schools in Palermo and Catania, telling stories drawn from medieval tales of knights, saints' lives and bandits.
Does Italy protect its heritage by law?
Partly, and the gaps say as much as the protections.
What is kept alive. Italy sustains a broad living heritage, from opera and bel canto singing to regional folk forms such as the tarantella and Salento pizzica, Sardinian canto a tenore polyphony and Sicilian Opera dei Pupi puppet theatre. Community events including the Venice and Ivrea carnivals and the Palio di Siena remain deeply rooted, alongside Catholic patronal processions and ancestral seasonal rites across the regions. Some traditions are strongly commercialised for visitors, yet many remain genuinely practised by local communities.
Who it belongs to. Italy's regional identities, dialects, food cultures and village life are strongly alive, and agriturismo, borghi and small-town tourism channel money to local families. Mass tourism does strain cities such as Venice and Florence.
Only here. The Marsican brown bear, a subspecies surviving only in Italy's central Apennines.
UNESCO · UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, The practice of opera singing in Italy · UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, Canto a tenore, Sardinian pastoral songs · UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, Opera dei Pupi, Sicilian puppet theatre · AGI, La Notte della Taranta, the pizzica and the tarantella (August 2024)
The Future of Italy.
Three futures for Italy, every one run forward from measured data.
Where the making actually happens
Named cultural and craft sites on the open map: Museum, Museo (Vahrn, Varna), Orto Botanico (Palermo). OpenStreetMap. Named craft workshops on the open map: Abat-jour, Accademia A, Allegri Imballaggi, Amaranthus Profumeria, Andrea Del Vecchio srl - Soluzioni esclusive, Angeli Cristallo.
Every measured trend on one line
Run forward at the pace already recorded.
World Bank open data, recorded series
How much forest is left?
Forest cover moved from 27.1% to 31.8% across 29 recorded years.
How clean is the grid?
Renewable electricity moved from 17.2% to 41% across 26 recorded years.
How much climate pollution per person?
CO2 per person moved from 7.65 t to 5.08 t across 29 recorded years.
How many people visit?
Tourist arrivals moved from 55,706k to 38,419k across 25 recorded years.
How much land is protected?
Protected land moved from 21.4% to 21.5% across 12 recorded years.
How many people still farm?
Farm workforce moved from 6.58% to 3.35% across 30 recorded years.
How much sea is protected?
Protected sea moved from 5.5% to 11% across 12 recorded years.
How much land is farmed?
Agricultural land moved from 52.1% to 43.6% across 29 recorded years.
How fast is it urbanising?
Urban population moved from 66.8% to 69.7% across 30 recorded years.
Is the air getting cleaner?
Air pollution moved from 30 µg/m³ to 14.3 µg/m³ across 28 recorded years.
Is water getting scarcer?
Fresh water per person moved from 3,211 m³ to 3,093 m³ across 27 recorded years.
Is diet-related disease rising?
Adult overweight moved from 46.3% to 49.1% across 27 recorded years.
Who has power?
Electricity access moved from 100% to 100% across 29 recorded years.
Is income rising?
GDP per person moved from 20,712 to 43,309 across 30 recorded years.
How fast is it growing?
Population moved from 56,844k to 58,916k across 30 recorded years.
What share of all energy is renewable?
Renewable energy use moved from 4.5% to 17.5% across 26 recorded years.
How much energy does one person use?
Energy per person moved from 2,800 kg to 2,248 kg across 29 recorded years.
How much land and sea is protected together?
Protected area, total moved from 11.2% to 14.8% across 12 recorded years.
How long do people live?
Life expectancy moved from 78.2 yrs to 84 yrs across 29 recorded years.
How much does a hectare of cereal produce?
Cereal yield moved from 4,667 kg/ha to 4,982 kg/ha across 29 recorded years.
How much fertiliser goes on the land?
Fertiliser use moved from 220 kg/ha to 112 kg/ha across 29 recorded years.
How many people still live rurally?
Rural population moved from 33.2% to 30.3% across 30 recorded years.
How much value per cubic metre of water?
Water productivity moved from 38.3 $/m3 to 59.2 $/m3 across 27 recorded years.
How much goes on health?
Health spending moved from 7.55% to 8.44% across 24 recorded years.
How much forest is there in total?
Forest area moved from 79,795 km2 to 94,220 km2 across 30 recorded years.
How much electricity per person?
Electric power use moved from 4,598 kWh to 5,178 kWh across 30 recorded years.
How have agriculture emissions moved?
Agriculture emissions moved from 44.88 to 31.48 MtCO2e across 33 recorded years.
Climate Watch (WRI), historical emissions
How have building emissions moved?
Building emissions moved from 67.52 to 51.78 MtCO2e across 33 recorded years.
Climate Watch (WRI), historical emissions
How have electricity/heat emissions moved?
Electricity/Heat emissions moved from 143.86 to 86.83 MtCO2e across 33 recorded years.
Climate Watch (WRI), historical emissions
How have energy emissions moved?
Energy emissions moved from 395.24 to 292.17 MtCO2e across 33 recorded years.
Climate Watch (WRI), historical emissions
How have industrial processes emissions moved?
Industrial Processes emissions moved from 27.06 to 26.65 MtCO2e across 33 recorded years.
Climate Watch (WRI), historical emissions
How have manufacturing/construction emissions moved?
Manufacturing/Construction emissions moved from 74.23 to 36.35 MtCO2e across 33 recorded years.
Climate Watch (WRI), historical emissions
Worst caseCurrent pathBest case
Worst case
Every measured decline continues at the pace already recorded. The weakest pillar, natural fibres at 2/5, is the one that gives way first.
Computed from: recorded series extended with no policy change
What the best case actually asks for
Lift natural fibres
It scores 2 out of 5 today, among the weakest parts of Italy's record. Natural-materials traditions stay alive, from Biella and Prato wool to Como silk, plus linen, leather and a growing hemp revival. Many of these remain working industries rather than heritage alone.
measured each year
Costs: spending and enforcement, not new technology
Lift energy
It scores 2 out of 5 today, among the weakest parts of Italy's record. Italy draws about half of its electricity from renewables, with solar near 17% alongside hydropower and the geothermal fields of Larderello, the world's first geothermal power site (Ember, 2025).
measured each year
Costs: spending and enforcement, not new technology
Lift wildlife
It scores 3 out of 5 today, among the weakest parts of Italy's record. Italy holds real iconic species, including the Apennine wolf, the critically small Marsican brown bear population and the Alpine ibex brought back from near-extinction, plus island endemics in Sardinia and Sicily.
measured each year
Costs: spending and enforcement, not new technology
Government and Goals in Italy.
Who is in charge of Italy now · Office-holders from the UN Protocol and Liaison Service public list of Heads of State and Heads of Government, 20 October 2026. Legislature and election dates from IFES ElectionGuide. Constitution dates from the Constitute Project. Governance scores from the World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators 2024.
Giorgia Meloni
Prime Minister
Giorgia Meloni is the head of government of Italy, in office since 22 October 2022. Every climate, protection and energy pledge on this page is delivered, or not, under this administration.
Public opinion, measured
Voice and accountability, the freedom to question government scores 77.6 out of 100 in 2025. On this World Bank scale, 100 is the strongest governance measured. Down from 78.0 in 2024. World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025 data (updated 25 September 2026)
Control of corruption scores 59.8 out of 100 in 2025. On this World Bank scale, 100 is the strongest governance measured. Up from 59.1 in 2024. World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025 data (updated 25 September 2026)
Political stability and absence of violence scores 73.6 out of 100 in 2025. On this World Bank scale, 100 is the strongest governance measured. Up from 72.8 in 2024. World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025 data (updated 25 September 2026)
Rule of law scores 68.3 out of 100 in 2025. On this World Bank scale, 100 is the strongest governance measured. Up from 67.9 in 2024. World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025 data (updated 25 September 2026)
Regulatory quality scores 65.8 out of 100 in 2025. On this World Bank scale, 100 is the strongest governance measured. Down from 66.7 in 2024. World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025 data (updated 25 September 2026)
Giorgia MeloniPrime Minister
Parliament (Il Parlamento)Legislature, bicameral
Last election25 September 2022
Constitution1947, as revised to 2020
Government typeparliamentary republic
Italy national goals: climate commitments on record · as recorded by Climate Watch, World Resources Institute
Plain Answers About Italy.
The questions people actually type, answered in full sentences from the sourced data above.
Swipe
Is Italy sustainable?
Italy scores 73 out of 100 on the Throne Eco Index, across twelve equally weighted pillars. Italy combines Europe-leading organic farming, a produce-rich Mediterranean diet and deeply rooted regional cultures with serious Po Valley air pollution and worsening southern water stress.
Is the water in Italy safe and plentiful?
Northern Italy is water-rich, fed by Alpine rivers, great lakes and Apennine springs, and about 97% of people have safely managed drinking water (JMP, 2024). But the south and Sicily face severe recurrent drought, the Po hit record lows in 2022, and distribution networks lose roughly a third of their water to leaks.
Can Italy feed itself?
Italy is one of Europe's agricultural powerhouses, largely self-sufficient in fruit, vegetables, wine, olive oil and rice, though a net importer of cereals, animal feed and meat. Orchards, vineyards and market gardens remain woven through the landscape and economy.
Is it easy to eat plant-based in Italy?
The Mediterranean diet is native here, built on vegetables, legumes, wholegrains, olive oil and fruit, so eating unprocessed plant food is effortless. Regional dishes from pasta e fagioli to ribollita are naturally plant-centred.
How much of Italy is actually protected?
Protected areas cover about 21% of land and 11% of the sea (World Bank, 2025), including 25 national parks such as Gran Paradiso and Abruzzo. Coverage is strong and marine protection is meaningful, though hunting pressure and coastal development remain concerns.
What wildlife is left in Italy?
Italy holds real iconic species, including the Apennine wolf, the critically small Marsican brown bear population and the Alpine ibex brought back from near-extinction, plus island endemics in Sardinia and Sicily. Biodiversity is notable but national endemism is modest.
Is Italy on clean energy?
Italy draws about half of its electricity from renewables, with solar near 17% alongside hydropower and the geothermal fields of Larderello, the world's first geothermal power site (Ember, 2025). Its territorial CO2 emissions were about 5.1 tonnes per person in 2024 (Our World in Data, Global Carbon Project), among the lower figures in Western Europe. Natural gas remains the largest single source of power, and Italy targets climate neutrality by 2050 in line with the EU.
How polluted is Italy?
The Po Valley is one of Europe's most polluted air basins, and national PM2.5 averages about 14 µg/m³ (World Bank, 2023). Italy applies EU single-use plastic rules and recycles well, but pollution hotspots such as the Terra dei Fuochi near Naples and industrial Taranto persist.
Does recycling work in Italy?
Italy recycles about half of its municipal waste, around 51% including composting (Eurostat, 2023), one of the better rates in Europe with strong separate collection and packaging recovery.
Is the farming in Italy organic?
About 19.5% of Italy's agricultural land is organic (Eurostat, 2024 data), among the highest shares in the world and still rising under national and EU targets.
Are there natural materials and craft in Italy?
Natural-materials traditions stay alive, from Biella and Prato wool to Como silk, plus linen, leather and a growing hemp revival. Many of these remain working industries rather than heritage alone.
Is there living culture in Italy?
Italy's regional identities, dialects, food cultures and village life are strongly alive, and agriturismo, borghi and small-town tourism channel money to local families. Mass tourism does strain cities such as Venice and Florence.
What heritage does Italy keep alive?
Italy sustains a broad living heritage, from opera and bel canto singing to regional folk forms such as the tarantella and Salento pizzica, Sardinian canto a tenore polyphony and Sicilian Opera dei Pupi puppet theatre. Community events including the Venice and Ivrea carnivals and the Palio di Siena remain deeply rooted, alongside Catholic patronal processions and ancestral seasonal rites across the regions. Some traditions are strongly commercialised for visitors, yet many remain genuinely practised by local communities.
So is Italy actually green? The measured answer
What is working: the record is thin on the headline measures, and the sourced numbers below say why.
What is not: sea protected at 11% against a 30% mark, renewable electricity at 41% against a 100% mark.
How Italy Ranks, region and world.
Where Italy sits on the Eco Index, against its Europe neighbours and the 77 destinations scored worldwide.
How does Italy compare in Europe?
1Switzerland78
2France78
3Finland77
4Slovenia77
5Portugal75
Scored Europe destinations, Eco Index.
The global top 10 of the 77 destinations scored
1Switzerland78
2France78
3Finland77
4Slovenia77
5Australia77
6Portugal75
7Germany75
8New Zealand75
10Spain73
Italy sits 9 of 77 at 73/100. Every name links to its own destination page, built exactly like this one. The full ranking
What is Italy particularly good at?
✓ Plant-based eating, scored 5/5. The Mediterranean diet is native here, built on vegetables, legumes, wholegrains, olive oil and fruit, so eating unprocessed plant food is effortless. Regional dishes from pasta e fagioli to ribollita are naturally plant-centred.
✓ Organic farming, scored 5/5. About 19.5% of Italy's agricultural land is organic (Eurostat, 2024 data), among the highest shares in the world and still rising under national and EU targets.
✓ Water, scored 4/5. Northern Italy is water-rich, fed by Alpine rivers, great lakes and Apennine springs, and about 97% of people have safely managed drinking water (JMP, 2024). But the south and Sicily face severe recurrent drought, the Po hit record lows in 2022, and distribution networks lose roughly a third of their water to leaks.
Where does Italy score worst?
✕ Natural fibres, scored 2/5. Natural-materials traditions stay alive, from Biella and Prato wool to Como silk, plus linen, leather and a growing hemp revival. Many of these remain working industries rather than heritage alone.
✕ Energy, scored 2/5. Italy draws about half of its electricity from renewables, with solar near 17% alongside hydropower and the geothermal fields of Larderello, the world's first geothermal power site (Ember, 2025). Its territorial CO2 emissions were about 5.1 tonnes per person in 2024 (Our World in Data, Global Carbon Project), among the lower figures in Western Europe. Natural gas remains the largest single source of power, and Italy targets climate neutrality by 2050 in line with the EU. The mix of moderate emissions and moderate renewables places it in the middle band.
✕ Wildlife, scored 3/5. Italy holds real iconic species, including the Apennine wolf, the critically small Marsican brown bear population and the Alpine ibex brought back from near-extinction, plus island endemics in Sardinia and Sicily. Biodiversity is notable but national endemism is modest.
A note from the lens of mother natureSwipe
Natural fibres, 2/5
Natural-materials traditions stay alive, from Biella and Prato wool to Como silk, plus linen, leather and a growing hemp revival. Many of these remain working industries rather than heritage alone.
Consequence: It is the lowest-scoring part of Italy's record, so it is where the score moves first.
Energy, 2/5
Italy draws about half of its electricity from renewables, with solar near 17% alongside hydropower and the geothermal fields of Larderello, the world's first geothermal power site (Ember, 2025).
Wildlife, 3/5
Italy holds real iconic species, including the Apennine wolf, the critically small Marsican brown bear population and the Alpine ibex brought back from near-extinction, plus island endemics in Sardinia and Sicily. Biodiversity is notable but national endemism is modest.
The Italy Directory.
Everything on Hold The Throne that sits in Italy, checked and listed.
How the rest of the world scores Italy
Independent global indices, for calibration.
Forest cover
31.8%
World Bank, 2024.
Protected land
21.5%
World Bank, 2025.
Protected sea
11.0%
World Bank, 2025.
Renewable grid
41.0%
World Bank, 2021.
CO2 per person
5.1
World Bank, 2024.
Threatened species
222 (mammals, birds, fish & plants)
Recorded figure, sourced on this page.
Control of corruption
59.8 / 100
World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025. Score from 0 to 100, where 100 is the strongest governance.
Government effectiveness
71.3 / 100
World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025. Score from 0 to 100, where 100 is the strongest governance.
Rule of law
68.3 / 100
World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025. Score from 0 to 100, where 100 is the strongest governance.
Political stability
73.6 / 100
World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025. Score from 0 to 100, where 100 is the strongest governance.
Voice and accountability
77.6 / 100
World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025. Score from 0 to 100, where 100 is the strongest governance.
Environmental Performance Index
61.6 / 100 · 22 of 177
Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026, ranked 22 of 177 countries assessed.
Ecosystem vitality
52.3 / 100 · 44 of 177
Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026, ranked 44 of 177 countries assessed.
Biodiversity and habitat
49.1 / 100 · 67 of 177
Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026, ranked 67 of 177 countries assessed.
Air quality
68.0 / 100 · 29 of 177
Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026, ranked 29 of 177 countries assessed.
Terrestrial biomes protected
72.1 / 100 · 60 of 177
Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026, ranked 60 of 177 countries assessed.
Marine habitat protected
40.0 / 100 · 31 of 111
Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026, ranked 31 of 111 countries assessed.
How Italy Is Scored. The Throne Standard.
Every destination on the index is scored the same way, so a 4 in Barbados means exactly what a 4 means in Iceland. No self-declared data and no brochure claims are accepted. Seven pillars are scored from published measurements with the same fixed thresholds everywhere: energy (low-carbon share of electricity, 90% or more scores 5, 70% 4, 50% 3, 25% 2), conservation (land and sea protected), water (safe drinking water, wastewater treated, water stress), organic farmland, recycling, food import dependence and air quality. Where a measurement is not published for a place, that pillar keeps its source-assessed score and is labelled as such. Wildlife, culture, heritage, materials and plant-based eating have no comparable measurement and are assessed from the named sources. The Eco Index is the average of the twelve pillar scores multiplied by 20. Every figure on this page carries its named source and year, and the history on each page names what empire took as plainly as it scores the present.
The 12 pillars every destination is scored on, equally weighted
01
Water
Safe drinking water, wastewater treated and water stress. Measured.
02
Food & farming
How much of the import bill is food: whether the place feeds itself. Measured.
03
Plant-based
How easy it is to eat plant-based, from documented sources.
04
Organic
Certified organic share of farmland. Measured.
05
Conservation
Land and sea legally protected, against the 30 by 30 goal. Measured.
06
Wildlife
What survives, what is endemic, what is lost, from documented sources.
07
Materials
Local natural fibres and craft, from documented sources.
08
Pollution
Air quality (PM2.5, measured) and plastics and waste policy.
09
Recycling
Share of municipal waste recycled. Measured.
10
Energy
Low-carbon share of electricity, nuclear included. Measured.
11
Culture
Living culture and community-led visits, from documented sources.
12
Heritage
What the law keeps standing, from documented sources.
What each 0 to 5 pillar score means, in plain words
0
Absent
nothing verifiable exists
1
Failing
measurably going the wrong way
2
Weak
claims outrun delivery
3
Fair
real effort, mixed results
4
Strong
genuinely good, evidence named
5
Leading
world class, and the trend holds
Where the numbers come from.
The institutions above are the ones cited on this page, ranked by how many of its figures they carry. This same sectioned page renders for all 77 scored destinations, each with its own researched history, comparison charts and three-way future. Read the full methodology
Every figure on this page, and where it came from: 85 sources across 32 institutions
World Bank17 FIGURES
- Forest area (% of land area) AG.LND.FRST.ZS, 2023 check
- Terrestrial protected areas (% of total land area) ER.LND.PTLD.ZS, 2025 check
- Marine protected areas (% of territorial waters) ER.MRN.PTMR.ZS, 2025 check
- Renewable electricity output (% of total electricity output) EG.ELC.RNEW.ZS, 2021 check
- PM2.5 air pollution, mean annual exposure (µg/m³) EN.ATM.PM25.MC.M3, 2023 check
- CO2 emissions per capita EN.GHG.CO2.PC.CE.AR5, 2024 check
- GDP (current US$) NY.GDP.MKTP.CD, 2025 check
- International tourist arrivals ST.INT.ARVL, 2020 check
- Agricultural land (% of land area) AG.LND.AGRI.ZS, 2023 check
- Arable land (% of land area) AG.LND.ARBL.ZS, 2023 check
- Agriculture, value added (% of GDP) NV.AGR.TOTL.ZS, 2025 check
- Adult literacy rate SE.ADT.LITR.ZS, 2019 check
- Renewable internal freshwater per capita (m3) ER.H2O.INTR.PC, 2022 check
- Safely managed sanitation (% of population) SH.STA.SMSS.ZS, 2024 check
- Overweight prevalence, adults (%) SH.STA.OWAD.ZS, 2022 check
- Central government debt (% of GDP) GC.DOD.TOTL.GD.ZS, 1992 check
- Population total SP.POP.TOTL, 2025 check
Pike6 FIGURES
- C., Crook, V. & Gollock, M. 2020, Anguilla anguilla, The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2020, Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Italy in GBIF occurrence data (species). check
- C., Crook, V. & Gollock, M. 2020, Anguilla anguilla, The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2020 corroboration check
- C., Crook, V. & Gollock, M. 2020, Anguilla anguilla, The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2020 corroboration check
- C., Crook, V. & Gollock, M. 2020, Anguilla anguilla, The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2020 corroboration check
- C., Crook, V. & Gollock, M. 2020, Anguilla anguilla, The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2020 corroboration check
- C., Crook, V. & Gollock, M. 2020, Anguilla anguilla, The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2020 corroboration check
Eurostat5 FIGURES
- Recycling rate of municipal waste, 2023 check
- UN SDG Global Database, electronic waste recycled (%) EN_EWT_RCYR, Italy, 2018 (84.3%), country-reported check
- recycling rate of municipal waste (cei_wm011) check
- municipal waste by treatment operation (env_wasmun) check
- area under organic farming (sdg_02_40), 2024 check
Istat5 FIGURES
- Italy, national statistical authority check
- L'Italia in 150 anni. Sommario di statistiche storiche 1861-2010, chapter 9, Elezioni e attivita politica e sociale, The Italian states were unified in 1861, fascist rule from 1922 ended in war and resistance, and Italy became check
- L'Italia in 150 anni. Sommario di statistiche storiche 1861-2010, chapter 9, Elezioni e attivita politica e sociale corroboration check
- L'Italia in 150 anni. Sommario di statistiche storiche 1861-2010, chapter 9, Elezioni e attivita politica e sociale corroboration check
- L'Italia in 150 anni. Sommario di statistiche storiche 1861-2010, chapter 9, Elezioni e attivita politica e sociale corroboration check
UNESCO Institute for Statistics5 FIGURES
- government expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP (XGDP.FSGOV), Italy, Public spending on education runs at 4.1% of GDP and 7.4% of all government spending, and secondary enrolment check
- government expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP (XGDP.FSGOV), Italy corroboration check
- government expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP (XGDP.FSGOV), Italy corroboration check
- government expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP (XGDP.FSGOV), Italy corroboration check
- government expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP (XGDP.FSGOV), Italy corroboration check
BirdLife International 20194 FIGURES
- Vanellus gregarius, The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019, Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Italy in GBIF occurrence data (bird). check
- Vanellus gregarius, The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019 corroboration check
- Vanellus gregarius, The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019 corroboration check
- Vanellus gregarius, The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019 corroboration check
Italy4 FIGURES
- Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC), final update June 2024, submitted by MASE to the European Commission, Natural gas remains the largest single source of power, and Italy targets climate neutrality by 2050 in line w check
- Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC), final update June 2024, submitted by MASE to the European Commission corroboration check
- Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC), final update June 2024, submitted by MASE to the European Commission corroboration check
- Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC), final update June 2024, submitted by MASE to the European Commission corroboration check
BirdLife International, IUCN and UNEP-WCMC3 FIGURES
- UN SDG Global Database, terrestrial Key Biodiversity Areas covered by protected areas (%) ER_PTD_TERR, Italy, 2025 (76.6%), country-reported check
- UN SDG Global Database, marine Key Biodiversity Areas covered by protected areas (%) ER_MRN_MPA, Italy, 2025 (78.6%), country-reported check
- UN SDG Global Database, freshwater Key Biodiversity Areas covered by protected areas (%) ER_PTD_FRHWTR, Italy, 2025 (84.7%), country-reported check
Bonomi3 FIGURES
- C., Abeli, T., Bolognesi, M., Bortolozzi, E., Parolo, G., Rossi, G. & Vicentini, R. 2011, Callianthemum kernerianum, The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2011, Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Italy in GBIF occurrence data (plant). check
- C., Abeli, T., Bolognesi, M., Bortolozzi, E., Parolo, G., Rossi, G. & Vicentini, R. 2011, Callianthemum kernerianum, The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2011 corroboration check
- C., Abeli, T., Bolognesi, M., Bortolozzi, E., Parolo, G., Rossi, G. & Vicentini, R. 2011, Callianthemum kernerianum, The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2011 corroboration check
FAO, Global Forest Resources Assessment3 FIGURES
- UN SDG Global Database, forest area (% of land area) AG_LND_FRST, Italy, 2025 (31.9%), country-reported check
- UN SDG Global Database, forest area under a long-term management plan (%) AG_LND_FRSTMGT, Italy, 2025 (11.4%), country-reported check
- UN SDG Global Database, forest area inside legally established protected areas (%) AG_LND_FRSTPRCT, Italy, 2025 (31.8%), country-reported check
IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group 20223 FIGURES
- Salamandra lanzai, The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022, Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Italy in GBIF occurrence data (amphibian). check
- Salamandra lanzai, The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022 corroboration check
- Salamandra lanzai, The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022 corroboration check
Li3 FIGURES
- P., Rao, D.-Q. & Wang, L. 2021, Mauremys sinensis, The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021, Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Italy in GBIF occurrence data (turtle). check
- P., Rao, D.-Q. & Wang, L. 2021, Mauremys sinensis, The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021 corroboration check
- P., Rao, D.-Q. & Wang, L. 2021, Mauremys sinensis, The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021 corroboration check
FAO2 FIGURES
- FAOSTAT, Crops and livestock products (QCL), Europe bulk download, December 2025 release, By tonnage, the largest crops grown in Italy are grapes, wheat, tomatoes, maize and apples (FAO, FAOSTAT crop check
- FAOSTAT, Crops and livestock products (QCL), Europe bulk download, December 2025 release corroboration check
Other published sources2 FIGURES
- Food import share left blank: no reliably comparable import-dependency figure verified.
- Law 59 of 9 February 1963 already let farmers sell their own produce retail without a trade licence; Article 4 of Legislative Decree 228 of 18 May 2001 redrew that regime, and dedicated farmers' markets came with the Ministerial Decree of 20 November 2007 check
UN Comtrade2 FIGURES
WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme2 FIGURES
19.5% in 2024 (Eurostat1 FIGURE
- updated August 2026); ISMEA's Bio in cifre 2025 puts it at 20.2% of national UAA check
Andrena bicolor1 FIGURE
- the species this card names, is Least Concern in the IUCN European Red List of Bees and has no global IUCN Red List assessment at all check
Campagna Amica's own figure is over 101 FIGURE
- 000 network points in total, not 10,000 farms; the farm count Coldiretti publishes is about 7,000, the 1,200 market count is not currently sourced, and the world's largest claim is Coldiretti's own check
Climate Watch (WRI)1 FIGURE
- Net-Zero Tracker check
Constitute Project1 FIGURE
- Italy 1947 (rev. 2020) check
Ember1 FIGURE
- Italy electricity data (renewables about 39% in 2023; solar about 12%). check
FiBL & IFOAM1 FIGURE
- The World of Organic Agriculture 2022 (2020 data), organic share of agricultural land check
IEA, World Energy Balances1 FIGURE
- UN SDG Global Database, renewable share of total final energy consumption (%) EG_FEC_RNEW, Italy, 2023 (18.5%), modelled estimate check
IFES ElectionGuide1 FIGURE
- Italy elections and chambers check
ISPRA1 FIGURE
- Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, national environmental authority for Italy check
IUCN Red List1 FIGURE
- World Bank, threatened mammals, birds, fish and higher plants (summed), 2022 check
IUCN Species Survival Commission1 FIGURE
- IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria, Version 3.1, Second edition (IUCN, 2012), Critically Endangered, the last IUCN category before Extinct in the Wild, and still recorded in Italy. check
Our World in Data (Global Carbon Project)1 FIGURE
- CO2 emissions per capita, 2024. check
UN Protocol and Liaison Service1 FIGURE
- Heads of State, Heads of Government and Ministers for Foreign Affairs, public list dated 20 October 2026 check
UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage1 FIGURE
- Italy (Opera dei Pupi; canto a tenore; opera singing). check
WHO/UNICEF JMP1 FIGURE
- World Bank, People using safely managed drinking water services (% of population) SH.H2O.SMDW.ZS, 2024 check