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The Italians of Italy

The Italians of Italy, numbering approximately 53,220,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Southern European people whose culture has been shaped by the legacy of the Roman world, centuries of regional development, Mediterranean interactions, Christianity, urban life, and strong family networks. They mostly adhere to Roman Catholicism and Italian is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Italian

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Eurasian Peoples
Country: Italy
People Cluster: Italian
Primary Language(s): Italian (ita)
Primary Religion(s): Roman Catholicism
Population: 53,220,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG000331
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Pray for the Italians of Italy

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Roman Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

81%
%
Roman Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Italian
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Italian Speakers

Media Resources in Italian:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Italian:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Italian Riveduta 1927✓
Traduzione Interconfessionale in Lingua Corrente✓

2 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Italian bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Italians are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Italians:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Pray specifically for the Italians of Italy

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
read1 John 4:10

Pray for those without the hope of Christ to understand the depth of God's love and the sacrifice He made for them.

Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near.
readIsaiah 55:6

Pray that the lost will seek the Lord while He may be found and call upon Him while He is near, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
read1 Peter 2:9

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will embrace their identity as God's chosen people, royal priests, and holy nation, living out their faith with purity and devotion.

I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations.
readPsalm 57:9

Pray that God will raise up believers among them who will boldly go and share the gospel with people nearby and with those far away.

Italian Across Countries (ROP3 - 104096) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

21 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDName ▲CountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
ItaliansPG000981ItaliansSlovenia2,300Engaged yet UnreachedItalianRoman Catholicism
ItaliansPG050582ItaliansVatican City475No Longer UnreachedItalianRoman Catholicism
ItaliansPG049312ItaliansVenezuela122,000Engaged yet UnreachedItalianRoman Catholicism
ItaliansPG049311ItaliansSpain229,000Engaged yet UnreachedItalianRoman Catholicism
ItaliansPG049310ItaliansArgentina2,185,000Engaged yet UnreachedItalianRoman Catholicism
ItaliansPG046925ItaliansBrazil50,000Engaged yet UnreachedItalianRoman Catholicism
ItaliansPG043415ItaliansCanada865,000No Longer UnreachedItalianRoman Catholicism
ItaliansPG043282ItaliansUnited States551,000Engaged yet UnreachedItalianRoman Catholicism
ItaliansPG042901ItaliansGermany709,000Engaged yet UnreachedItalianRoman Catholicism
ItaliansPG022233ItaliansMonaco4,300Unengaged and UnreachedItalianRoman Catholicism
ItaliansPG018341ItaliansNew Caledonia8,800Unengaged and UnreachedItalianRoman Catholicism
ItaliansPG000025ItaliansAustria26,000Unengaged and UnreachedItalianRoman Catholicism
ItaliansPG000645ItaliansUnited Kingdom243,000Engaged yet UnreachedItalianRoman Catholicism
ItaliansPG000591ItaliansSwitzerland336,000Engaged yet UnreachedItalianUnaffiliated
ItaliansPG000505ItaliansSan Marino31,000Unengaged and UnreachedItalianRoman Catholicism
ItaliansPG000376ItaliansMalta11,000Unengaged and UnreachedItalianRoman Catholicism
ItaliansPG000370ItaliansLuxembourg23,500Engaged yet UnreachedItalianRoman Catholicism
ItaliansPG000365ItaliansLiechtenstein1,300Unengaged and UnreachedItalianRoman Catholicism
ItaliansPG000331ItaliansItaly53,220,000Engaged yet UnreachedItalianRoman Catholicism
ItaliansPG000164ItaliansFrance1,235,000No Longer UnreachedItalianRoman Catholicism
ItaliansPG000059ItaliansBelgium289,000Engaged yet UnreachedItalianRoman Catholicism

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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