The beautiful European city where tourists have cleared out locals

One of the world's most beautiful cities is experiencing a simultaneous tourist boom and population decline, leaving locals feeling like "foreigners in their own homes". Venice, also known as 'The Floating City', welcomed a record 38.8 million overnight visitors in 2024 despite officials introducing a mandatory overnight tax of €5 (£4.40) in the same year. While statistics for this summer are not yet available, the number could continue to climb, with other popular holiday spots also seeing a spike in demand linked to cheaper travel options and destinations going viral online.

The city's packed streets hide another clear trend of recent years, however - that of a declining residential population, with figures now averaging just 47,995 in its historic centre, according to Venessia.com. Matteo Secchi, president of the activist group behind the tracking website, said of the 25 people in his class at school, just six of them remain in Venice. "Every now and then, I feel like a foreigner in my own home and I often wonder where I am," he said.

Venice's population has shrunk to its lowest-ever level, with over 12,000 people moving out of the city's main island since the 1950s, according to Mr Secchi's research.

"Forty years ago, the park was filled with children playing," he told The i Paper. "Now you maybe see about 10 at maximum. This is the main difference for me - the children.

"Also, the shops are completely different. There used to be bakers, supermarkets... But now there are just shops for tourists and loads of souvenir shops. There are also loads of sweet shops around and I really don't understand it."

Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro confirmed the city's tourist tax scheme will continue next year in September, applying for 60 days between April 3 and July 26 - six more than in 2025.

The city raked in €5.4 million (£4.7 million) by charging over 720,000 day-trippers through the scheme this year, with a base rate of €5 (£4.40) for advance bookings and €10 (£8.79) for last-minute trips.

The mayor's critics have suggested that residents are being driven away by high prices, rather than tourist hoards, however.

Giovanni Martini, opposition councillor for the Tutta la Città Insieme party, pointed to cost-of-living in Venice rising by 2.3% this year, ranking it fourth in Italy for annual consumer price inflation, and warned against catering to visitors above locals.

Others have indicated Italy's declining birth rate as a factor in Venice's shrinking population, while Venessia.com has also noted that "internal migration" has been a driving force behind an exodus from the central districts.