Demographics
| Historical population | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
| 1921 | 239.558 | — |
| 1931 | 250.170 | +4.4% |
| 1936 | 248.307 | −0.7% |
| 1951 | 272.522 | +9.8% |
| 1961 | 272.723 | +0.1% |
| 1971 | 271.879 | −0.3% |
| 1981 | 252.369 | −7.2% |
| 1991 | 231.100 | −8.4% |
| 2001 | 211.184 | −8.6% |
| 2009 Est. | 205.507 | −2.7% |
| Source: ISTAT 2001 | ||
| ISTAT 2007 | ||
| Trieste, FVG | Italy | |
| Median age | 46 years | 42 years |
| Under 18 years old | 13.8% | 18.1% |
| Over 65 years old | 27.9% | 20.1% |
| Foreign Population | 6.2% | 5.8% |
| Births/1000 people | 7.63 b | 9.45 b |
As of April 2009, there were 205,507 people residing in Trieste, located in the province of Trieste, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, of whom 46.7% were male and 53.3% were female. Trieste had lost roughly 1/3 of its population since the 1970s, due to the crisis of the historical industrial sectors of steel and shipbuilding, a dramatic drop in fertility rates and fast population aging. Minors (children aged 18 and younger) totalled 13.78% of the population compared to pensioners who number 27.9%. This compares with the Italian average of 18.06% (minors) and 19.94% (pensioners). The average age of Trieste residents is 46 compared to the Italian average of 42. In the five years between 2002 and 2007, the population of Trieste declined by 3.5%, while Italy as a whole grew by 3.85%. However, in the last two years the city has shown signs of stabilizing thanks to growing immigration fluxes. The crude birth rate in Trieste is only 7.63 per 1,000, one of the lowest in eastern Italy, while the Italian average is 9.45 births.
The dominant local dialect of Trieste is called Triestine ("Triestin", pronounced ), influenced by a form of Venetian. This dialect and the official Italian language are spoken in the city, while Slovene is spoken in some of the immediate suburbs. There are also small numbers of Serbian, Croatian, German, and Hungarian speakers.
At the end of 2009, ISTAT estimated that there were 15,795 foreign born residents in Trieste, representing 7.7% of the total city population. The largest autochthonous minority are Slovenes and Croats, but there is also a large immigrant group from Balkan nations (particularly nearby Serbia, Albania and Romania): 4.95%, Asia: 0.52%, and sub-saharan Africa: 0.2%. Serbian community consists of both autochthonous and immigrant groups. Trieste is predominantly Roman Catholic, but also has large numbers of Orthodox Christians, mainly Serbs, due to the city's large migrant population from Eastern Europe and its Balkan influence.
The top ten countries of origin of the inhabitants of Trieste with foreign citizenship at December 31, 2010 were:
- Serbia 5,938
- Romania 2,066
- Croatia 1,515
- China 1,051
- Albania 945
- Bosnia 637
- Ukraine 518
- Kosovo 400
- Moldova 383
- Slovenia 382
Read more about this topic: Trieste