PLAGUE – Demographic effects
It is believed that, in the 14th century, in Europe, a third of the population (estimated 75/80 million people) disappeared due to the plague.
This terrible disease struck repeatedly in various waves keeping the European population in decline throughout the 14th century.
In Italy it hit the cities unevenly; it spared Milan probably thanks to the authority of Visconti who imposed strict restrictions on the movement of goods and people across the territory (similarities with Covid-19). The great Lombard city was also graced by the presence of large rural areas located around the metropolis, which became a refuge for many.
It can be said that, like during every pandemic, the death rate was higher in densely populated areas.
The number of Europeans only ceased to decline in the first decades of the 15th century and it took many more for the population to come back to its pre-pandemic density.
COVID – Demographic Effects
The Covid-19 pandemic has severely affected the world’s demographics.
In Italy, for example, in the period January-August 2020 there was an 8.6% increase in mortality compared to the average between 2015-2019.
The health emergency due to Covid greatly worries young people between 18 and 34, who found themselves reflecting on the choice of forming a family or not during the lockdown.
The demographic decline in Bergamo
The months of March / April / May 2020 put the city of Bergamo (Lombardia) in a tough situation, where over 600 more deaths were reported than the average between 2010-2019.
The cause of the high mortality is attributable to Covid-19.
In the Lombard city, the drop in the birth rate registered since the beginning of the pandemic is also very worrying, when in the previous six years it had been increasing.