The duel
Land
Size, shape and altitude
How big is it, really?
Italy: 302,070 km² (2024) · Vatican City: no data
How much coast is there?
Italy: 7,600 km (2026 edition) · Vatican City: 0 km (2026 edition)
How high can you climb?
Italy’s highest peak towers 4,670 m above Vatican City’s
Italy: 4,748 m (2026 edition) · Vatican City: 78 m (2026 edition)
How much of the land is farmed?
Italy: 43.6% (2024) · Vatican City: no data
People
Who lives there, and how closely
How many people live there?
Italy: 58.9 million (2025) · Vatican City: no data
How crowded is it?
Italy: 199 per km² (2025) · Vatican City: no data
How tall are the men?
Italy: 174.4 cm (2019) · Vatican City: no data
How tall are the women?
Italy: 161.8 cm (2019) · Vatican City: no data
How old is the typical person?
The typical person in Vatican City is 12 years older than in Italy
Italy: 47.5 years (2023) · Vatican City: 59.6 years (2023)
How many children per woman?
Italy: 1.18 children per woman (2024) · Vatican City: no data
How many people are 65 or older?
Italy: 25.1% (2025) · Vatican City: no data
How many refugees does it host?
Italy: 3.3 per 1,000 (2025) · Vatican City: no data
How many Nobel laureates were born there?
Italy: 3.4 (2026) · Vatican City: no data
How many official languages?
Vatican City has 2 official languages, Italy 1
Italy: 1 (2026) · Vatican City: 2 (2026)
Money
What an economy looks like per person
How big is the economy?
Italy: $2.55 trillion (2025) · Vatican City: no data
How much is produced per person?
Italy: Int$62,803 (2025) · Vatican City: no data
How evenly is income shared?
Italy: 34.3 (2023) · Vatican City: no data
How many live on less than $3 a day?
Italy: 0.9% (2023) · Vatican City: no data
How many people are looking for work?
Italy: 6.4% (2025) · Vatican City: no data
How much goes to the military?
Italy: 1.9% (2025) · Vatican City: no data
How much does the central government collect in tax?
Italy: 25.6% (2024) · Vatican City: no data
How expensive is it?
Italy: 69% (2025) · Vatican City: no data
Health
Long lives, small beginnings
How much is spent on health?
Italy: $3,398 (2024) · Vatican City: no data
How long do people live?
Italy: 84 years (2024) · Vatican City: no data
How many babies don’t reach their first birthday?
Italy: 2.3 per 1,000 (2024) · Vatican City: no data
How many doctors are there?
Italy: 4.2 per 1,000 (2022) · Vatican City: no data
How many hospital beds are there?
Italy: 3.1 per 1,000 (2022) · Vatican City: no data
How common is suicide?
Italy: 5.7 per 100k (2023) · Vatican City: no data
How common is obesity?
Italy: 17.9% (2024) · Vatican City: no data
How many adults smoke?
Italy: 22.4% (2024) · Vatican City: no data
Everyday life
Plates, glasses and happiness
How do people rate their lives?
Italy: 6.57 (2025) · Vatican City: no data
How much do people drink?
Italy: 8.4 litres (2023) · Vatican City: no data
How much meat is on the menu?
Italy: 71.2 kg (2023) · Vatican City: no data
How much food is there per day?
Italy: 3,753 kcal (2023) · Vatican City: no data
How long do people work?
Italy: 1,701 hours (2023) · Vatican City: no data
How long do people go to school?
Italy: 10.8 years (2023) · Vatican City: no data
How many tourists visit?
Italy: 0.98 (2024) · Vatican City: no data
How many World Heritage sites?
Italy has 60 more World Heritage sites than Vatican City (62 against 2)
Italy: 62 (2026) · Vatican City: 2 (2026)
How many Olympic medals has it won?
Italy: 829 (2026 edition) · Vatican City: no data
Connected
Online, electrified, urban
How many people are online?
Italy: 89% (2024) · Vatican City: no data
How fast is home internet?
Italy: 274 Mbps (2026) · Vatican City: no data
Who has electricity at home?
Italy: 100% (2024) · Vatican City: no data
How many live in cities?
Italy: 70% (2025) · Vatican City: no data
How many phones per person?
Italy: 133 (2024) · Vatican City: no data
How much railway is there?
Italy: 17,305 km (2021) · Vatican City: no data
How much do they fly?
Italy: 0.34 (2023) · Vatican City: no data
Planet
Air, forests and energy
How much of the land is forest?
Italy: 31.8% (2024) · Vatican City: no data
How much CO₂ does each person emit?
Italy: 5.1 t (2024) · Vatican City: no data
How green is the power grid?
Italy: 48.8% (2025) · Vatican City: no data
How clean is the air?
The air in Italy carries 13% more fine dust than in Vatican City
Italy: 15.2 µg/m³ (2024) · Vatican City: 13.5 µg/m³ (2024)
Safety
Measured risk, not vibes
How common is murder?
Italy: 0.6 per 100k (2023) · Vatican City: 0 per 100k (2023)
How dangerous are the roads?
Italy: 8.5 per 100k (2023) · Vatican City: no data
Climate
What the year feels like
How warm is it?
Italy: 13.9°C (2016–2025 avg) · Vatican City: no data
How much rain falls?
Italy: 1,030 mm (2016–2025 avg) · Vatican City: no data
Between them
People, goods and passports that cross from one to the other
