Total inhabitants in Venice by area 1871-2023

The data show how Venice has progressively lost its inhabitants living in the historical center. For 15 centuries, this area has been the cornerstone of the city's political, economic, and social life, with a peak of 174,800 residents reached in 1951. Since then, a substantial decline started in favor of the mainland, which in 1960 became more populous than the ancient settlement for the first time since the founding in the fifth century A.D. Over the last 20 years, the inhabitants of the dry land stabilized around 180,000 people. There they can find better and easily accessible public services and modern infrastructures while avoiding the problem of overtourism. On the contrary, in 2023 only 50,000 inhabitants lived in the center, 72 percent less than in 1952. The population residing in the estuary never exceeded 51,000 people, and the depopulation trend has been constant since the 1990s.