Goal 11: Sustainable cities and communities

In 2022, Italy's primary environmental expenditure increased by 163% compared to 2021, reflecting a greater political interest in environmental issues. However, the share of key sectors (biodiversity and landscape protection, forest and wildlife management) in total environmental spending declined from 9.1% to 4.2%.

Despite the increase in available resources, spending capacity varies across sectors, with efficiency rates ranging from 88.5% for biodiversity to 69.1% for forest management. This trend highlights the need to optimize investments to ensure the protection of natural heritage, in alignment with the sustainable development goals of the 2030 Agenda.

This indicator quantifies soil consumption within specific distances from the coastline and tracks its temporal evolution. Nearly a quarter of the land within 300 meters of the coast has been urbanized, while 19% of the area between 300 and 1,000 meters and 8.7% of the area between 1 and 10 km have been affected. In comparison, only 6.5% of the rest of the territory has undergone soil consumption.

L'indicatore quantifica il suolo consumato a seguito di una variazione da una copertura non artificiale a una copertura artificiale, secondo il principio del consumo di suolo netto, ovvero al netto delle trasformazioni da suolo consumato a suolo non consumato (in genere ripristino di cantieri e di altre aree che l’anno precedente rientravano nel consumo di suolo reversibile). Il consumo di suolo lordo registrato nel corso del 2023 ha riguardato 7.254 ettari di territorio, causando la perdita spesso irreversibile di aree naturali semi-naturali e agricole e dei loro rispettivi servizi ecosistemici.

The indicator provides information regarding cultural heritage exposed to landslide and flood risk along the national territory. There are 40,256 cultural heritage sites at landslide risk, of which 13,243 are in areas with high hazard P3 and very high hazard P4. There are 35,979 cultural heritage sites at risk of flooding in the medium hazard scenario (return periods between 100 and 200 years), and up to 53,844 in the low hazard scenario, which is the maximum expected scenario.

In 2023, Italy experienced one of the hottest years in the last 150 years, second only to 2022. The average and maximum temperatures reached new records with October recording temperatures more than 3°C higher than the 1991-2021 average, marking the highest value since 1961. During the summer, intense heatwaves affected the country, with record temperatures of 48.2°C recorded on July 24 in Jerzu and Lotzorai in Sardinia, and 41.2°C in Rome in early August. Drought continued to be a significant problem, with Northern and Central Italy experiencing severe drought conditions in the first four months of the year, which later eased. However, in the last three months of the year, Sicily and parts of Ionian Calabria suffered from extreme drought with a significant precipitation deficit.
Extreme weather events affected several regions, causing severe damage. In May, Emilia-Romagna was devastated by two exceptional rainfall events, leading to flooding, landslides, and 17 fatalities. On November 2, heavy thunderstorms in Tuscany caused flooding and 8 deaths, with exceptional rainfall recorded in the provinces of Pisa, Livorno, Pistoia, and Prato.
In summary, 2023 was characterized by record temperatures, persistent drought, and extreme weather events that had a significant impact on various italian regions.

The indicator provides information about the major landslide events caused fatalities, injuries, evacuations, damage to buildings, cultural heritage, and primary linear communication infrastructure or service networks in the national territory in the past year. The major landslide events occurred in 2023 were 192, with 11 deaths, 24 injuries, and damage mainly to the road network and buildings.

The indicator provides information about the landslide number and distribution in Italy. The recorded landslides exceed 635,000 (reference period 1116-2024) and affect an area of 25,004 km², accounting for 8.3% of the national territory.

The indicator is defined by the number of volcanic eruptions that have had significant effects in terms of interference with human activities over the course of the year. Regarding the reference year (2023), there was continuous eruptive activity from Etna and Strombolian activity with occasional intensity peaks at Stromboli.

The indicator describes seismic events that occurred in Italy during the reference year, based on Magnitude values recorded by the National Seismic Network of INGV. In 2024, no destructive earthquakes occurred in Italy. Only one event reached Magnitude 5 in the province of Cosenza, which nonetheless caused no significant surface effects. Additionally, 13 events with Magnitudes between 4 and 4.6 were recorded within Italian territory and across borders up to 100 km away. The number of earthquakes with Magnitude ≥ 2 in 2024 (2,031) is comparable to the number recorded in the previous five years, with a slight decrease in 2021. As usual, most events were concentrated along the Apennine arc, the Eastern Alps, and Eastern Sicily.

The indicator describes seismic events that occurred in Italy during the reference year, based on Magnitude values recorded by the National Seismic Network of INGV. In 2024, no destructive earthquakes occurred in Italy. Only one event reached Magnitude 5 in the province of Cosenza, which nonetheless caused no significant surface effects. Additionally, 13 events with Magnitudes between 4 and 4.6 were recorded within Italian territory and across borders up to 100 km away. The number of earthquakes with Magnitude ≥ 2 in 2024 (2,031) is comparable to the number recorded in the previous five years, with a slight decrease in 2021. As usual, most events were concentrated along the Apennine arc, the Eastern Alps, and Eastern Sicily.

In 2023, the total amount of municipal waste disposed of in landfills amounted to approximately 4.6 million tonnes, with 112 landfill facilities in operation nationwide. Compared to 2022, this represents a 10.8% reduction in the total quantity of municipal waste landfilled (equivalent to -559,000 tonnes) and a 4.3% decrease in the number of operational sites (-5 facilities).

The indicator is based on atmospheric PM10 concentration data measured in 2023 at monitoring stations distributed across the national territory, collected and archived by ISPRA in the InfoAria database, in accordance with Directive 2008/50/EC (and its national transposition, Legislative Decree 155/2010) and Commission Implementing Decision 2011/850/EU. A total of 573 monitoring stations reported PM10 data. Of these, 541 provided time series with sufficient temporal coverage for validation against reference thresholds. No exceedances of the annual limit value were recorded, whereas the daily limit value was exceeded at 63 stations (equivalent to 12% of cases). Furthermore, the vast majority of monitoring stations reported exceedances of both the WHO annual reference level (91% of cases) and the daily reference level (84% of cases).

The indicator is based on atmospheric concentration data of benzo(a)pyrene measured in 2023 at monitoring stations distributed across the national territory, collected and archived by ISPRA in the InfoAria database, in accordance with Directive 2008/50/EC (and its national transposition, Legislative Decree 155/2010) and Commission Implementing Decision 2011/850/EU. A total of 164 monitoring stations measured and reported B(a)P data. Among these, 159 provided time series with sufficient temporal coverage for the verification of reference values. Exceedances of the target value were recorded at 17 stations, corresponding to 10.7% of the cases.

The indicator is based on nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) concentration data measured in 2023 at monitoring stations distributed across the national territory, collected and archived by ISPRA in the InfoAria database, in accordance with Directive 2008/50/EC (and its national transposition, Legislative Decree 155/2010) and Commission Implementing Decision 2011/850/EU. A total of 630 monitoring stations measured and reported NO₂ data. Of these, 600 provided data series with sufficient temporal coverage to verify compliance with reference values.

The hourly limit value was respected at all stations: no exceedance of 200 µg/m³ (hourly average) for more than 18 occasions was recorded. The WHO reference value, which does not permit any exceedances of 200 µg/m³, was exceeded at 8 stations (1.3% of those with sufficient data coverage). The annual limit value, set at 40 µg/m³ (annual mean), was exceeded at 13 stations (2.2%). The WHO guideline value for long-term human health protection, set at 10 µg/m³ as an annual mean, was exceeded at 450 stations (75.0%).

The indicator is based on atmospheric ozone (O₃) concentration data measured in 2023 at monitoring stations distributed across the national territory, collected and archived by ISPRA in the InfoAria database, in accordance with Directive 2008/50/EC (and its national transposition, Legislative Decree 155/2010) and Commission Implementing Decision 2011/850/EU. A total of 348 monitoring stations measured and reported ozone data. Of these, 326 provided data series with sufficient temporal coverage to assess compliance with threshold values and the long-term objective (LTO) for the protection of human health.

Suburban, rural, and background rural stations meeting the minimum data coverage required for the calculation of the long-term objective for vegetation protection (AOT40v) numbered 146. The LTO for human health was exceeded at 88.1% of stations. In 43.9% of the stations, this LTO was exceeded for more than 25 days.

The information threshold for health protection was exceeded at 34% of stations, while the alert threshold was exceeded at only 2 stations. The WHO reference level—set at 100 µg/m³ as the 99th percentile of daily maximum 8-hour mean concentrations—was exceeded at 313 stations (96% of those with sufficient data coverage). The long-term objective for vegetation protection (AOT40v) was exceeded at 93.2% of the stations.

The indicator is based on atmospheric PM2.5 concentration data measured in 2023 at monitoring stations distributed across the national territory, collected and archived by ISPRA in the InfoAria database, in accordance with Directive 2008/50/EC (and its national transposition, Legislative Decree 155/2010, as amended) and Commission Implementing Decision 2011/850/EU.

A total of 334 monitoring stations measured and reported PM2.5 data. Of these, 310 provided data series with sufficient temporal coverage to assess compliance with reference values. The annual limit value for PM2.5 (25 µg/m³) was met at all stations except one, corresponding to 0.3% of cases. However, the majority of monitoring stations (99.7%) exceeded the updated WHO annual reference value of 5 µg/m³ (previously set at 10 µg/m³).

Estimates of the population-weighted annual average exposure (Population Weighted Exposure, PWE) to nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) have been developed at the municipal level through an integrated use of measurements and statistical models. The data, covering the period 2016–2022, enable comparison of PWE across all municipalities and provide a comprehensive overview of average exposure at the national scale.

In 2022, 82% of the population was exposed to NO₂ levels exceeding the WHO guideline value of 10 µg/m³. The national average PWE was 12 µg/m³ (range: 3–38 µg/m³).

Between 2016 and 2022, a downward trend in exposure levels was observed, with an average reduction of approximately 25%, primarily attributable to decreased emissions from road traffic.

Estimates of the population-weighted annual average exposure (Population Weighted Exposure, PWE) to ozone (O₃) have been developed at the municipal level using an integrated approach combining measurements and statistical models. The data, covering the period 2016–2022, allow comparison of PWE across all municipalities and provide a comprehensive overview of average exposure at the national level.

In 2022, 100% of the population was exposed to levels exceeding the WHO guideline value of 60 µg/m³, calculated as the mean of the distribution of daily maximum 8-hour moving averages during the period from April to September.

The national average PWE was 104 µg/m³ (range: 64–134 µg/m³).

No decreasing trend in exposure levels was observed during the period analyzed.

Estimates of the population-weighted annual average exposure (Population Weighted Exposure, PWE) to PM10 have been developed at the municipal level using an integrated approach combining measurements and statistical models. The data, covering the period 2016–2022, enable comparison of PWE across all municipalities and provide a comprehensive overview of average exposure at the national level.

In 2022, 97% of the population was exposed to levels exceeding the WHO guideline value of 15 µg/m³.

No decreasing trend in exposure levels was observed during the period analyzed: the national average PWE in 2022 matched the 2016 level at 21 µg/m³, with the highest value recorded in 2017 at 23 µg/m³.

Estimates of the population-weighted annual average exposure (Population Weighted Exposure, PWE) to PM2.5 have been developed at the municipal level using an integrated approach combining measurements and statistical models. The data, covering the period 2016–2022, enable comparison of PWE across all municipalities and provide a comprehensive overview of average exposure at the national level.

In 2022, 100% of the population was exposed to levels exceeding the WHO guideline value of 5 µg/m³. The national average PWE was 14 µg/m³ (range: 6–25 µg/m³).

Between 2016 and 2022, the national average decreased from 15 µg/m³ in 2016 to 14 µg/m³ in 2022, representing a 7% reduction.

The indicator provides an estimate of the population exposed to landslide risk (personal damage risk: deaths, missing, injuries, and evacuations) on a national, regional, provincial, and municipal basis. In Italy, the population at landslide risk residing in areas with high and very high landslide hazard (P3+P4) amounts to 1,303,666 inhabitants, equal to 2.2% of the total population.

This indicator provides an overview of the population residing in flood-prone areas (population exposed to flood risk) at the national, regional, provincial, and municipal levels. In Italy, the population residing in areas with high hazard/probability is 4.1% of the total national population (2,431,847 people); those exposed to medium hazard/probability are 11.5% (6,818,375 people), while the population in areas with low hazard/probability is 20.6% (12,257,427 people).