The number of workers in Italy is set to drop by 700,000 over the next five years due to the nation's declining birth rate and its ageing population, the head of the Parliamentary Budget Office (UPB) told a hearing of the parliamentary commission of inquiry into the demographic transition.
    "The decline in the Italian population that began in 2014 will continue, accompanied by increasing ageing of it", UPB President Lilia Cavallari said, adding that the proportion of the population that are young will stabilize at around 24% in the medium term.
    "If we maintain current employment rates, we will have a loss of 700,000 workers in the next five years".
    Cavallari said there will also be a loss of productivity because the workforce is ageing and the largest group of workers is the baby boomers - people aged between 50 and 64 years old.
    She said health and pension spending is set to rise because of these demographic factors, while stressing that the public accounts should hold up, nonetheless.
    Cavallari added that it is necessary to maintain the link between life expectancy and retirement age.

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