[The use of municipality-level data on mortality in Italy: SENTIERI Project]

In Italy, complete municipality-level data on specific-cause mortality have been available at central level since 1980; Italy's National Institute of Statistics (Istat) collects data from all municipalities using two sources: i) the Office of Vital Statistics; and ii) the Civil Status Office. The Office of Vital Statistics records data on events such as births, deaths and migration for the population with official residence in the municipality, with the aim of describing the resident population's structure and composition. The Civil Status Office records data on the demographic dynamics (not only marital status but also causes of death); the data refer to the population living in the municipality, independently of official residence. Changes in the status of a municipality (e.g., the creation of a new municipality or the unification of diverse municipalities) are often not recorded simultaneously by these two offices, so that the data do not correspond.