Historical Connection

We Italians have a very prolific digital business. The data say so. As for us, we want to emphasize the growth in network and social media use among our Seniors. In short. Despite what is conventionally believed about the aging population in general, our country is leading the way in including Seniors, making them active participants, again, thanks to new digital technologies.

This is demonstrated by our project History Is Us! Italy has therefore become connected, constantly seeking education and information but above all new stories, with a unique feature today, video testimonials.

Numbers in the Hand

Numbers have always played a central role in human civilization, with uses both practical, concrete and symbolic, and esoteric, mystical and alchemical, yes, history teaches. Numerical systems for trade, architecture and astronomy, were used thousands of years ago, by Middle Eastern cultures. They thus came to the Mediterranean and were used in flourishing Roman syncretism, as philosophical and mathematical tools. In this stimulating climate Euclid, centuries ago, formalized geometry based on numbers and proportions that we still use today. Middle Ages and Renaissance then contribute to the fact that, Arabic numeration spread throughout Europe and, thanks to our Fibonacci, we have come to practically simplify harmonic calculations and proportions, in every field of human endeavor, with examples still unsurpassed today. In the modern and contemporary ages it is enough to recall the development of algebra, infinitesimal calculus and number theory, which revolutionized science and technology. Among all of them, however, here, for us, it is useful, to remember Pythagoras who, from Calabria, exactly from Crotone, saw numbers as the key to the universe.

Everything is number.

Pythagoreans associate numbers with ethical and mystical principles. They believe that the essence of reality is expressible in numbers and proportions. They thus discover numerical relationships in musical scales, founding mathematical music theory. Here is the key. Where 1 represents unity. 2 the duality. 3 the perfection. 4 the tetragonal basis of cosmic harmony that, if we listen, present, can be grasped in every creature we come into relationship with, regardless of our wills or otherwise, it is our nature. This is the approach that, in the project History Is Us!, we believe should be given to video testimonies with which to dignify memory concretely.

Coming to the present day, one of the most globally accredited platforms that works with numbers and helps us understand how networked activities develop over time is DATAREPORTAL. The organization was born in exotic, fascinating and intriguing, Southeast Asia. The platform provides detailed statistics on network, social media, and mobile device usage, globally and locally.

Just to orient us, at the beginning of this year, in which in the pleasant latitudes of Asia it is the Year of the Snake, ±5 billion individuals, worldwide, used the net. We are talking about ±67% of the world's population. In addition, the number of social media users, reached the same figure. We are at ±5 billion users. Are you also among them? Good. Because you too have realized the growing importance of digital in contemporary society. We have written about it many on our blog. If you want to read more about it, read HERE.

But now we come to us. What is happening in Italy? Let's go into detail. We want to be exhaustive. Are you wondering how many people in Italy use digital devices, online platforms and related services? Good. To get the right answer you just have to keep reading this article.

By the way, the data we share with you now, are extrapolated from the most recent report on Italy in the digital sphere that you will ever find on the web. Here it is. So you can start to get a better handle on digital behaviors in Italy. You have no more excuses now. Just consider that the History is us! project was born from these very numbers.

Digital State

We begin by anticipating that ±53 million individuals are using the net, in Italy, at the beginning of this 2025, with an online penetration of ±89%. In addition. Italy has ±42 million social media user identities equivalent to ±71% of the total population.

This early data gives us a comprehensive overview of the digital state in Italy in early 2025, but to understand how digital trends have evolved over time, we need to go deeper than this data. By taking a closer look at what the numbers tell us, we begin to better orient ourselves, relative to the Italian population, in general and, as far as we are concerned here, with a particular focus on our Senior loved ones.

Statistics of Italy

Let us first begin by considering that, statistics has very ancient origins, dating back to the need to census populations and resources. Egyptians and Babylonians collected data for fiscal and military purposes. So too in ROME where the census became increasingly detailed. In the modern age Blaise Pascal develops probability theory, applied to the social and physical sciences, where historically the concept of the average man is introduced for the use of statistical distributions, in inferential and correlation. Napoleon analyzed birth and death records and made them a staple of his administrations. Today, statistics is central to many areas, thanks in part to the development of information technology and so-called Artificial Intelligence. Thus we come to what we are interested in concentrated in the project History Is Us!

The population of Italy in 2025 is ±59 million, with a steady overall decrease over the years. Of this ±72% live in urban centers. Those living in rural areas are ±27%. Italy's population is ±51% female. Of the male sex ±49%. The average age is ±48 years, with half the population above this age and the other half below. Exactly:

3.4% between 0 and 4 years.

6.4% between 5 and 12 years.

4.8% between 13 and 17 years.

7.2% between 18 and 24 years.

10.7% between 25 and 34 years.

11.7% between 35 and 44 years.

15.0% between 45 and 54 years.

15.8% between 55 and 64 years.

25.1% 65 years and older.

This last figure is our strength that we need to focus on. We are talking about ±15 million individuals. It means that those born and raised here know how to enjoy life, long, great and together. This generation that is the protagonist not only of our past is addressed by the project History Is Us!

Mobile Connections

Cellular mobile connections, in Italy, at the beginning of 2025, are ±82 million. This is because many people use more than one mobile connection. The same person might have a mobile connection for personal use and also use a separate mobile connection for other activities, including professional ones. The rise then of eSIMs has made this duplication even easier in recent years.

Mobile connections in Italy are ±139% of the total population. ±98.3% of mobile connections in Italy can now be considered broadband, meaning that we connect via 3G, 4G or 5G mobile networks. However, devices that connect to mobile broadband networks do not necessarily use cellular mobile data. To understand, some subscription plans may only include access to voice and SMS services, so this broadband figure should not be considered a proxy for mobile network use.

Network of Italy

Net users in Italy are ±53 million. This means that the network penetration rate is at ±89.9% of the total population at the beginning of this year. An excellent figure but one that needs to be improved because this means that ±6 million people in Italy do not use the net. We are talking about the fact that, today, ±10% of the population in Italy is not digitally connected.

Connection Speed

The figures indicate that network users in Italy can expect the following network connection speeds reported in megabits per second (Mbps):

• Average mobile download speed via cellular data networks: ±57.62 Mbps.
• Average landline download speed: ±88.80 Mbps.

Average mobile download speed in Italy increased by ±11.59 Mbps (+25.2%) in the twelve months to early 2025. Typical fixed network connection downloads in Italy increased by ±17.40 Mbps (+24.4%) during the same period.

These values for mobile network connection speeds include only data transfer via cellular mobile networks (e.g., 3G, 4G, and 5G connections) and do not represent the speed of mobile connections via WiFi where the WiFi router connects to the network via so-called fixed infrastructure.

Social Media.

Before we get to the data. Question. How do you pronounce the term media? Come on. Let me know. We'll talk about it in a future article. Anyway. The identities of active social media users in Italy total ±42 million. This is ±71% of the population. Obviously. The identities of social media users may not represent unique individuals. This is the phenomenon of user deduplication, across different social platforms.

Importantly, ±38 million of these users are aged 18 years and older, equivalent to ±76% of the total population aged 18 years and older. ±50% of the identities of social media users in Italy are female and, of course, ±50% are male. ±79% of the total online user base in Italy, regardless of age, uses at least one social media platform.

Active Videos

YouTube has ±42 million users in Italy at the beginning of this Year of the Snake. Exactly the same exact figure as all social put together. Important to note that, these advertising reach figures, do not necessarily represent the same thing in monthly active user figures and there could be significant differences between the size of YouTube's advertising audience and its total active user base. These clarifications aside, the data suggest that YouTube's advertising reach in early 2025 is equivalent to ±71% of the total Italian population at the beginning of the year.

To put these figures in perspective, YouTube ads reached ±79% of the total online user base in Italy, regardless of age, of which ±50% were female and so were male.

These numbers are fundamental, not only because Pythagoras inspired, for example, Plato who, in his Republic, in the memorable Book VII, says that mathematics is the way to supreme knowledge, or Aristotle who, in his Metaphysics, Book I, §5, expounds his constructive critique of the Pythagorean doctrine of numbers as the essence of things, but also our own Cicero who, in De Natura Deorum, II, 37, 95, publicly admires the Pythagorean theory of celestial harmony, but above all for our project History is us! thanks to which we can finally orient ourselves with confidence and without any fear in the search for new stories, including in the form of video stories.

Now. If you, too, would like to share your past experience, please write now to info@historyisus.com to contribute to an authentic, present historical connection for a future filled with prosperity and well-being, for all of us, starting with this Year of the Snake.