Editing Basilicata (section)

==Demographics==
{{Historical populations
|type=
|footnote=Source: [[Italian National Institute of Statistics|ISTAT]]
|1861|509000
|1871|524000
|1881|539000
|1901|492000
|1911|486000
|1921|492000
|1931|514000
|1936|543000
|1951|627586|1961|644297|1971|603064|1981|610186|1991|610528|2001|597768|2011|578036|2021|541168}}
Although Basilicata has never had a large population, there have nevertheless been quite considerable fluctuations in the demographic pattern of the region. In 1881, there were 539,258 inhabitants but by 1911 the population had decreased by 11% to 485,911, mainly as a result of emigration overseas. There was a slow increase in the population until World War II, after which there was a resurgence of emigration to other countries in Europe, which continued until 1971 and the start of another period of steady increase until 1993 (611,000 inhabitants). Since the 1990s the population has been declining again, as a result of low birth rates and high emigration, especially towards northern Italy, the UK, Germany and Switzerland.<ref>{{cite web |title=Migrazioni interne e internazionali della popolazione residente. Anni 2022-2023 |url=https://www.istat.it/it/files/2024/05/Migrazioni-interne-e-internazionali-della-popolazione-residente.pdf |publisher=[[Istat]] |access-date=27 February 2025}}</ref> As of 2024, the population was 533,636, a 12.7% decrease since 1993.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/italy/cities/basilicata/ | title=Basilicata (Italy): Provinces, Major Cities & Communes - Population Statistics, Maps, Charts, Weather and Web Information }}</ref><ref name="circa.europa">{{cite web|url=http://circa.europa.eu/irc/dsis/regportraits/info/data/en/itf5_pop.htm|title=Eurostat|publisher=Circa.europa.eu|access-date=26 July 2013|url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303164608/http://circa.europa.eu/irc/dsis/regportraits/info/data/en/itf5_pop.htm|archive-date=3 March 2012}}</ref>

The population density is very low compared to that of Italy as a whole: 59.1 inhabitants per km<sup>2</sup> compared to 200.4 nationwide in 2010. There is not a great difference between the population densities of the provinces of Matera and Potenza.<ref name="circa.europa"/>

Religion, particularly Roman Catholicism still maintains a solid role in the culture and everyday lives of people in Basilicata. Italian National Statistical Institute (ISTAT) in 2018 found that 24.9% of the population went weekly to church, synagogue, mosque, temple or other place of worship, with the share of practicing believers higher in Basilicata (27.9%){{citation needed|date=September 2022}}