Italy Environment - 2022

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Environment - current issues

air pollution from industrial emissions such as sulfur dioxide; coastal and inland rivers polluted from industrial and agricultural effluents; acid rain damaging lakes; inadequate industrial waste treatment and disposal facilities

Environment - international agreements

party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protection, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Marine Dumping-London Protocol, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Heavy Metals, Air Pollution-Multi-effect Protocol

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 15.28 micrograms per cubic meter (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 41.3 megatons (2020 est.)

Climate

predominantly Mediterranean; alpine in far north; hot, dry in south

Land use

agricultural land: 47.1% (2018 est.)

arable land: 22.8% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 8.6% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 15.7% (2018 est.)

forest: 31.4% (2018 est.)

other: 21.5% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 72% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: 0.27% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

total population growth rate v. urban population growth rate, 2000-2030

Revenue from forest resources

forest revenues: 0.01% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

coal revenues: 0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Major infectious diseases

note: a new coronavirus is causing respiratory illness (COVID-19) in Italy; illness with this virus has ranged from mild to severe with fatalities reported; as of 9 December 2022, Italy has reported a total of 24,488,080 cases of COVID-19 or 41,058.8 cumulative cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 population with a total of 181,733 cumulative deaths or a rate of 304.7 cumulative deaths per 100,000 population; as of 8 December 2022, 86.15% of the population has received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine; the US Department of Homeland Security has issued instructions requiring US passengers who have been in Italy to travel through select airports where the US Government has implemented enhanced screening procedures

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 29.524 million tons (2015 est.)

municipal solid waste recycled annually: 7,646,716 tons (2015 est.)

percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 25.9% (2015 est.)

Major watersheds (area sq km)

Atlantic Ocean drainage: Rhine-Maas (198,735 sq km), (Black Sea) Danube (795,656 sq km), (Adriatic Sea) Po (76,997 sq km), (Mediterranean Sea) Rhone (100,543 sq km)

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 9.488 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)

industrial: 7.7 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)

agricultural: 17 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)

Total renewable water resources

191.3 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)

NOTE: The information regarding Italy on this page is re-published from the 2022 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Italy 2022 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Italy 2022 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.