Births to Italian couples below 400,000

(ANSA) - Rome, November 27 - Babies born to Italian couples fell below 400,000 for the first time in 2014 with 398,540 births counted, according to figures released by national statistics agency Istat Friday.
    The decline, by some 82,000 in the past six years, is due to a fall in the number of Italian women of child-bearing age and a lower propensity to have children, said Istat.
    In 2014, a total 502,596 births were registered in Italy when one also counts those born to migrants, some 12,000 less than in 2013.