Olbia continues to grow alongside the surrounding villages, gaining an average of 6,500 more residents every ten years

It is no longer a population boom – at least as far as births are concerned – but Olbia remains the only one of Sardinia’s major cities to be growing and is set to rank among the top forty in Italy for population growth in 2024 as well. This growth is driven by net migration, with people moving in from other municipalities or from abroad far outnumbering those moving out, confirming the appeal of the city and the surrounding area. Thus, in 2024, 62,998 residents were registered on the municipal register, representing an increase of 0.21 per cent compared with the previous year. The graphs produced by the council’s statistics office based on ISTAT data show a city that has been growing steadily for seventy years. In 1951, Olbia had just 14,601 inhabitants, 6,500 fewer than Alghero. Since then, the growth evident from the census data has been consistently steady, with an average increase of 6,500 inhabitants every ten years. The largest increase, in both absolute and percentage terms, occurred between 1981 and 1991 – the years of the construction boom – with a rise of over ten thousand inhabitants. It was during that decade that the city in Gallura established itself as Sardinia’s fourth-largest municipality.

However, the now well-established trend is one of growth that is spreading to neighbouring municipalities and – most recently – not just those along the coast. These are quiet towns offering a good quality of life, with the added benefits of being close to the city and having a supply of homes – a rare commodity in Olbia – at affordable prices.

The countries

This is the case in Telti, where the population has risen to 2,268 following the arrival of 22 new residents (8 births and 19 deaths; the population increase is attributable to the arrival of 60 new residents). «Our municipality is proving to be attractive from an economic perspective too; in 2024, two major new businesses were set up by private investors who have decided to invest in our area,» say officials from the local council. Loiri Porto San Paolo, with 3,842 residents, has gained 57 inhabitants; the new growth in 2024 is not in the coastal part of Porto San Paolo but mainly in the more inland areas of the municipality. Monti is also growing, again due to the same migration trends, rising from 2,360 to 2,394 – mainly, says the mayor, Emanuele Mutzu, “because house prices and rents are significantly lower than in the city”. Berchidda remains stable at 2,593 inhabitants. «The figures give us reason to be hopeful that the trend of depopulation is being reversed – something we have been working towards with policies aimed at improving the quality of services for residents, including transport links,» comments the mayor, Andrea Nieddu. And speaking of transport links, in the case of Monti and Berchidda, the rapid completion of the Sassari–Olbia road, which connects the two villages to the city, is a further boost in the fight against depopulation.

As for the coastal municipalities, Arzachena has now firmly established itself as Gallura’s second-largest town, with an increase of 29 residents bringing its total to 13,933; Santa Teresa is also growing, with a population of 5,294 (up 39), whilst La Maddalena continues to decline, losing more than 100 residents and standing at 10,700.

Young and multi-ethnic

Although the number of newborns in the city is not increasing, according to data analysed by Olbia City Council, the city remains the youngest in Sardinia, with 17.64 per cent of its population under the age of 19 (Sassari, Nuoro and Quartu are just over 14 per cent, whilst Cagliari is below 13 per cent), which is higher than the national average, with 10,843 very young people. This figure necessitates school-building strategies that differ from those in the rest of the region. The high proportion of people aged between 30 and 50 – whilst the proportion of older people is very low – paints a picture of a city that attracts the workforce and young families.

There are 30,953 households, 89.9 per cent of which are Italian, but the number of foreign households is also rising. The largest community is the Romanian one, with 1,564 households – a slight increase compared with last year – followed by Senegal, Poland, Morocco and Ukraine.