The prime minister of Italy is the head of the Council of Ministers, which holds effective executive power in the Italian government. The first officeholder was Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, who was sworn in on 23 March 1861 after the unification of Italy. Cavour previously served as Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Sardinia, an office from which the Italian prime minister took most of its powers and duties. During the monarchy period, prime ministers were appointed by the king of Italy, as laid down in the Albertine Statute. From 1925 until the fall of his regime in 1943, fascist dictator Benito Mussolini formally modified the office title to "Head of Government, Prime Minister and Secretary of State". From 1861 to 1946, 30 men served as prime ministers, leading 67 governments in total.

After the abolition of the Kingdom of Italy in 1946 and the proclamation of the Italian Republic, the office was established by Articles 92 through 96 of the Constitution of Italy. Alcide De Gasperi is the only prime minister who has held this position both in the Kingdom of Italy and in the Republic of Italy.

The prime minister is appointed by the President of the Republic and must receive a confidence vote by both houses of Parliament: the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. From 1946 to 2022, in the first 76 years after the creation of the Republic, 30 men served as prime ministers. The current officeholder is Giorgia Meloni, who was appointed on 22 October 2022, becoming the first woman to hold this office.

The longest-serving prime minister in the history of Italy was Benito Mussolini, who ruled the country from 1922 until 1943; the longest-serving prime minister of the Italian Republic is Silvio Berlusconi, who held the position for more than nine years between 1994 and 2011. The shortest-serving officeholder was Tommaso Tittoni, who served as prime minister for only 16 days in 1905, while the shortest-serving prime minister of the Italian Republic was Fernando Tambroni, who governed for 123 days in 1960.

Prime Ministers of the Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)

Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Party		Government	Composition	Legislature (Election)	Monarch (Reign)	Ref.
		Took office	Left office	Time in office
	Count Camillo Benso di Cavour (1810–1861)	23 March 1861	6 June 1861†	75 days		Historical Right	Cavour IV	Right	VIII (1861)	Victor Emmanuel II (1861–1878)
	Baron Bettino Ricasoli (1809–1880)	12 June 1861	3 March 1862	264 days		Historical Right	Ricasoli I	Right
	Urbano Rattazzi (1808–1873)	3 March 1862	8 December 1862	280 days		Historical Left	Rattazzi I	Right • Left
	Luigi Carlo Farini (1812–1866)	8 December 1862	24 March 1863	106 days		Historical Right	Farini	Right
	Marco Minghetti (1818–1886)	24 March 1863	28 September 1864	1 year, 188 days		Historical Right	Minghetti I	Right
	General Alfonso Ferrero La Marmora (1804–1878)	28 September 1864	31 December 1865	1 year, 265 days		Military	La Marmora II	Right
		31 December 1865	20 June 1866				La Marmora III		IX (1865)
	Baron Bettino Ricasoli (1809–1880)	20 June 1866	10 April 1867	294 days		Historical Right	Ricasoli II	Right • Left
	Urbano Rattazzi (1808–1873)	10 April 1867	27 October 1867	200 days		Historical Left	Rattazzi II	Right • Left	X (1867)
	Count Luigi Federico Menabrea (1809–1896)	27 October 1867	5 January 1868	2 years, 48 days		Historical Right	Menabrea I	Right
		5 January 1868	13 May 1869				Menabrea II
		13 May 1869	14 December 1869				Menabrea III
	Giovanni Lanza (1810–1882)	14 December 1869	10 July 1873	3 years, 208 days		Historical Right	Lanza	Right	XI (1870)
	Marco Minghetti (1818–1886)	10 July 1873	25 March 1876	2 years, 259 days		Historical Right	Minghetti II	Right	XII (1874)
	Agostino Depretis (1813–1887)	25 March 1876	25 December 1877	1 year, 364 days		Historical Left	Depretis I	Left	XIII (1876)
		26 December 1877	24 March 1878				Depretis II			Umberto I (1878–1900)
	Benedetto Cairoli (1825–1889)	24 March 1878	19 December 1878	270 days		Historical Left	Cairoli I	Left
	Agostino Depretis (1813–1887)	19 December 1878	14 July 1879	214 days		Historical Left	Depretis III	Left
	Benedetto Cairoli (1825–1889)	14 July 1879	25 November 1879	1 year, 319 days		Historical Left	Cairoli II	Left
		25 November 1879	29 May 1881				Cairoli III		XIV (1880)
	Agostino Depretis (1813–1887)	29 May 1881	25 May 1883	6 years, 61 days		Historical Left	Depretis IV	Left
		25 May 1883	30 March 1884				Depretis V		XV (1882)
		30 March 1884	29 June 1885				Depretis VI
		29 June 1885	4 April 1887				Depretis VII		XVI (1886)
		4 April 1887	29 July 1887†				Depretis VIII
	Francesco Crispi (1819–1901)	29 July 1887	9 March 1889	3 years, 192 days		Historical Left	Crispi I	Left
		9 March 1889	6 February 1891				Crispi II		XVII (1890)
	Marquess Antonio Starabba di Rudinì (1839–1908)	6 February 1891	15 May 1892	1 year, 99 days		Historical Right	Di Rudinì I	Left • Right
	Giovanni Giolitti (1842–1928)	15 May 1892	15 December 1893	1 year, 214 days		Historical Left	Giolitti I	Left	XVIII (1892)
	Francesco Crispi (1819–1901)	15 December 1893	14 June 1894	2 years, 86 days		Historical Left	Crispi III	Left • Right
		14 June 1894	10 March 1896				Crispi IV		XIX (1895)
	Marquess Antonio Starabba di Rudinì (1839–1908)	10 March 1896	11 July 1896	2 years, 111 days		Historical Right	Di Rudinì II	Right with Left's external support
		11 July 1896	14 December 1897				Di Rudinì III
		14 December 1897	1 June 1898				Di Rudinì IV	Left • Right	XX (1897)
		1 June 1898	29 June 1898				Di Rudinì V	Left • Right
	General Luigi Pelloux (1839–1924)	29 June 1898	14 May 1899	1 year, 360 days		Military	Pelloux I	Left with Right's external support
		14 May 1899	24 June 1900				Pelloux II	Left • Right
	Giuseppe Saracco (1821–1907)	24 June 1900	15 February 1901	236 days		Historical Left	Saracco	Left • Right	XXI (1900)	Victor Emmanuel III (1900–1946)
	Giuseppe Zanardelli (1826–1903)	15 February 1901	3 November 1903	2 years, 261 days		Historical Left	Zanardelli	Left • Right
	Giovanni Giolitti (1842–1928)	3 November 1903	12 March 1905	1 year, 129 days		Historical Left	Giolitti II	Left • Right with PSI's external support	XXII (1904)
	Tommaso Tittoni (1855–1931)	12 March 1905	28 March 1905	16 days		Historical Right	Tittoni	Left • Right
	Alessandro Fortis (1842–1909)	28 March 1905	24 December 1905	317 days		Historical Left	Fortis I	Left • Right
		24 December 1905	8 February 1906				Fortis II	Left with Right's external support
	Baron Sidney Sonnino (1847–1922)	8 February 1906	29 May 1906	110 days		Historical Right	Sonnino I	Left • Right • PR
	Giovanni Giolitti (1842–1928)	29 May 1906	11 December 1909	3 years, 196 days		Historical Left	Giolitti III	Left • Right
	Baron Sidney Sonnino (1847–1922)	11 December 1909	31 March 1910	110 days		Historical Right	Sonnino II	Right with Left's external support	XXIII (1909)
	Luigi Luzzatti (1841–1927)	31 March 1910	30 March 1911	364 days		Historical Right	Luzzatti	Left • Right • PR
	Giovanni Giolitti (1842–1928)	30 March 1911	21 March 1914	2 years, 356 days		Liberal Union	Giolitti IV	UL • PR
	Antonio Salandra (1853–1931)	21 March 1914	5 November 1914	2 years, 89 days		Liberal Union	Salandra I	UL	XXIV (1913)
		5 November 1914	18 June 1916				Salandra II	UL • PRI
	Paolo Boselli (1838–1932)	18 June 1916	30 October 1917	1 year, 134 days		Liberal Union	Boselli	UL • PR • UECI • PSRI
	Vittorio Emanuele Orlando (1860–1952)	30 October 1917	23 June 1919	1 year, 236 days		Liberal Union	Orlando	UL • PR • UECI • PSRI
	Francesco Saverio Nitti (1868–1953)	23 June 1919	21 May 1920	358 days		Italian Radical Party	Nitti I	UL • PLDI • PPI • PR • PSRI
		21 May 1920	15 June 1920				Nitti II	UL • PLDI • PPI • PR	XXV (1919)
	Giovanni Giolitti (1842–1928)	15 June 1920	4 July 1921	1 year, 19 days		Liberal Union	Giolitti V	UL • PLDI • PPI • PDSI • PR • PSRI
	Ivanoe Bonomi (1873–1951)	4 July 1921	26 February 1922	237 days		Italian Reformist Socialist Party	Bonomi I	PPI • PLI • PLDI • PDSI • PSRI	XXVI (1921)
	Luigi Facta (1861–1930)	26 February 1922	1 August 1922	247 days		Liberal Union / Italian Liberal Party	Facta I	PPI • PLI • PLDI • PDSI • PSRI • PA
		1 August 1922	31 October 1922				Facta II	PPI • PLI • PLDI • PDSI • PSRI
	Duce Benito Mussolini (1883–1945)	31 October 1922	25 July 1943	20 years, 267 days		National Fascist Party	Mussolini	PPI • PLI • PDSI • PNF • ANI
								PNF	XXVII (1924)
									XXVIII (1929)
									XXIX (1934)
									XXX (no election)
	Marshal Pietro Badoglio (1871–1956)	25 July 1943	24 April 1944	329 days		Military	Badoglio I	Independents • DC • PLI	Parliament abolished
		24 April 1944	18 June 1944				Badoglio II	CLN DC • PCI • PLI • PSIUP • PdA • PDL
	Ivanoe Bonomi (1873–1951)	18 June 1944	12 December 1944	1 year, 3 days		Labour Democratic Party	Bonomi II	CLN DC • PCI • PLI • PSIUP • PdA • PDL
		12 December 1944	21 June 1945				Bonomi III	CLN DC • PCI • PLI • PDL
	Ferruccio Parri (1890–1981)	21 June 1945	10 December 1945	172 days		Action Party	Parri	CLN DC • PCI • PLI • PSIUP • PdA • PDL	National Council
	Alcide De Gasperi (1881–1954)	10 December 1945	13 July 1946	212 days		Christian Democracy	De Gasperi I	CLN DC • PCI • PLI • PSIUP • PdA • PDL		Umberto II (1946)

Prime Ministers of the Italian Republic (1946–present)

Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Party		Government	Composition	Legislature (Election)	President (Tenure)	Ref.
		Took office	Left office	Time in office
	Alcide De Gasperi (1881–1954)	13 July 1946	2 February 1947	7 years, 35 days		Christian Democracy	De Gasperi II	CLN DC • PSIUP • PCI • PRI	Constituent Assembly (1946)	Enrico De Nicola (1946–1948)
		2 February 1947	1 June 1947				De Gasperi III	CLN DC • PSI • PCI • PDL
		1 June 1947	24 May 1948				De Gasperi IV	Centrism DC • PSDI • PLI • PRI
		24 May 1948	27 January 1950				De Gasperi V		I (1948)	Luigi Einaudi (1948–1955)
		27 January 1950	26 July 1951				De Gasperi VI	Centrism DC • PSDI • PRI
		26 July 1951	16 July 1953				De Gasperi VII	Centrism DC • PRI
		16 July 1953	17 August 1953				De Gasperi VIII	DC	II (1953)
	Giuseppe Pella (1902–1981)	17 August 1953	19 January 1954	155 days		Christian Democracy	Pella	DC
	Amintore Fanfani (1908–1999)	19 January 1954	10 February 1954	22 days		Christian Democracy	Fanfani I	DC
	Mario Scelba (1901–1991)	10 February 1954	6 July 1955	1 year, 146 days		Christian Democracy	Scelba	Centrism DC • PSDI • PLI
	Antonio Segni (1891–1972)	6 July 1955	20 May 1957	1 year, 318 days		Christian Democracy	Segni I	Centrism DC • PSDI • PLI		Giovanni Gronchi (1955–1962)
	Adone Zoli (1887–1960)	20 May 1957	2 July 1958	1 year, 43 days		Christian Democracy	Zoli	DC
	Amintore Fanfani (1908–1999)	2 July 1958	16 February 1959	229 days		Christian Democracy	Fanfani II	Centrism DC • PSDI	III (1958)
	Antonio Segni (1891–1972)	16 February 1959	26 March 1960	1 year, 39 days		Christian Democracy	Segni II	DC
	Fernando Tambroni (1901–1963)	26 March 1960	27 July 1960	123 days		Christian Democracy	Tambroni	DC
	Amintore Fanfani (1908–1999)	27 July 1960	22 February 1962	2 years, 330 days		Christian Democracy	Fanfani III	DC
		22 February 1962	22 June 1963				Fanfani IV	DC • PSDI • PRI		Antonio Segni (1962–1964)
	Giovanni Leone (1908–2001)	22 June 1963	5 December 1963	166 days		Christian Democracy	Leone I	DC	IV (1963)
	Aldo Moro (1916–1978)	5 December 1963	23 July 1964	4 years, 203 days		Christian Democracy	Moro I	Organic centre-left DC • PSI • PSDI • PRI
		23 July 1964	24 February 1966				Moro II			Giuseppe Saragat (1964–1971)
		24 February 1966	25 June 1968				Moro III
	Giovanni Leone (1908–2001)	25 June 1968	13 December 1968	171 days		Christian Democracy	Leone II	DC	V (1968)
	Mariano Rumor (1915–1990)	13 December 1968	6 August 1969	1 year, 236 days		Christian Democracy	Rumor I	Organic centre-left DC • PSU • PRI
		6 August 1969	28 March 1970				Rumor II	DC
		28 March 1970	6 August 1970				Rumor III	Organic centre-left DC • PSI • PSDI • PRI
	Emilio Colombo (1920–2013)	6 August 1970	18 February 1972	1 year, 196 days		Christian Democracy	Colombo	Organic centre-left DC • PSI • PSDI • PRI
	Giulio Andreotti (1919–2013)	18 February 1972	26 June 1972	1 year, 140 days		Christian Democracy	Andreotti I	DC		Giovanni Leone (1971–1978)
		26 June 1972	8 July 1973				Andreotti II	DC • PSDI • PLI	VI (1972)
	Mariano Rumor (1915–1990)	8 July 1973	15 March 1974	1 year, 138 days		Christian Democracy	Rumor IV	Organic centre-left DC • PSI • PSDI • PRI
		15 March 1974	23 November 1974				Rumor V	Organic centre-left DC • PSI • PSDI
	Aldo Moro (1916–1978)	23 November 1974	12 February 1976	1 year, 250 days		Christian Democracy	Moro IV	DC • PRI
		12 February 1976	30 July 1976				Moro V	DC
	Giulio Andreotti (1919–2013)	30 July 1976	13 March 1978	3 years, 6 days		Christian Democracy	Andreotti III	Historic Compromise DC	VII (1976)
		13 March 1978	21 March 1979				Andreotti IV			Sandro Pertini (1978–1985)
		21 March 1979	5 August 1979				Andreotti V	DC • PSDI • PRI
	Francesco Cossiga (1928–2010)	5 August 1979	4 April 1980	1 year, 74 days		Christian Democracy	Cossiga I	DC • PSDI • PLI	VIII (1979)
		4 April 1980	18 October 1980				Cossiga II	Organic centre-left DC • PSI • PRI
	Arnaldo Forlani (1925–2023)	18 October 1980	28 June 1981	253 days		Christian Democracy	Forlani	Organic centre-left DC • PSI • PSDI • PRI
	Giovanni Spadolini (1925–1994)	28 June 1981	23 August 1982	1 year, 156 days		Italian Republican Party	Spadolini I	Pentapartito DC • PSI • PSDI • PRI • PLI
		23 August 1982	1 December 1982				Spadolini II
	Amintore Fanfani (1908–1999)	1 December 1982	4 August 1983	246 days		Christian Democracy	Fanfani V	DC • PSI • PSDI • PLI
	Bettino Craxi (1934–2000)	4 August 1983	1 August 1986	3 years, 257 days		Italian Socialist Party	Craxi I	Pentapartito DC • PSI • PRI • PSDI • PLI	IX (1983)
		1 August 1986	18 April 1987				Craxi II			Francesco Cossiga (1985–1992)
	Amintore Fanfani (1908–1999)	18 April 1987	29 July 1987	102 days		Christian Democracy	Fanfani VI	DC
	Giovanni Goria (1943–1994)	29 July 1987	13 April 1988	259 days		Christian Democracy	Goria	Pentapartito DC • PSI • PRI • PSDI • PLI	X (1987)
	Ciriaco De Mita (1928–2022)	13 April 1988	23 July 1989	1 year, 101 days		Christian Democracy	De Mita	Pentapartito DC • PSI • PRI • PSDI • PLI
	Giulio Andreotti (1919–2013)	23 July 1989	13 April 1991	2 years, 341 days		Christian Democracy	Andreotti VI	Pentapartito DC • PSI • PRI • PSDI • PLI
		13 April 1991	28 June 1992				Andreotti VII	Quadripartito DC • PSI • PSDI • PLI
	Giuliano Amato (born 1938)	28 June 1992	28 April 1993	304 days		Italian Socialist Party	Amato I	Quadripartito DC • PSI • PLI • PSDI	XI (1992)	Oscar Luigi Scalfaro (1992–1999)
	Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (1920–2016)	28 April 1993	11 May 1994	1 year, 13 days		Independent	Ciampi	DC • PSI • PDS • PLI • PRI • PSDI • FdV
	Silvio Berlusconi (1936–2023)	11 May 1994	17 January 1995	251 days		Forza Italia	Berlusconi I	PdL–PBG FI • LN • AN • CCD • UdC	XII (1994)
	Lamberto Dini (born 1931)	17 January 1995	18 May 1996	1 year, 122 days		Independent	Dini	Independents
	Romano Prodi (born 1939)	18 May 1996	21 October 1998	2 years, 156 days		Independent	Prodi I	The Olive Tree PDS • PPI • RI • FdV • UD	XIII (1996)
	Massimo D'Alema (born 1949)	21 October 1998	22 December 1999	1 year, 188 days		Democrats of the Left	D'Alema I	The Olive Tree DS • PPI • RI • SDI • FdV • PdCI • UDR • UDEUR • Dem
		22 December 1999	26 April 2000				D'Alema II			Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (1999–2006)
	Giuliano Amato (born 1938)	26 April 2000	11 June 2001	1 year, 46 days		Independent	Amato II	The Olive Tree DS • PPI • Dem • FdV • PdCI • UDEUR • RI • SDI
	Silvio Berlusconi (1936–2023)	11 June 2001	23 April 2005	4 years, 340 days		Forza Italia	Berlusconi II	House of Freedoms FI • AN • LN • UDC • NPSI • PRI	XIV (2001)
		23 April 2005	17 May 2006				Berlusconi III
	Romano Prodi (born 1939)	17 May 2006	8 May 2008	1 year, 357 days		Independent / Democratic Party	Prodi II	The Union DS • DL • PRC • RnP • PdCI • IdV • FdV • UDEUR	XV (2006)	Giorgio Napolitano (2006–2015)
	Silvio Berlusconi (1936–2023)	8 May 2008	16 November 2011	3 years, 192 days		The People of Freedom	Berlusconi IV	Centre-right coalition PdL • LN	XVI (2008)
	Mario Monti (born 1943)	16 November 2011	28 April 2013	1 year, 163 days		Independent	Monti	Independents
	Enrico Letta (born 1966)	28 April 2013	22 February 2014	300 days		Democratic Party	Letta	Grand coalition PD • PdL • NCD • SC • PpI • UDC • RI	XVII (2013)
	Matteo Renzi (born 1975)	22 February 2014	12 December 2016	2 years, 294 days		Democratic Party	Renzi	Centre-left coalition PD • NCD • SC • UDC
	Paolo Gentiloni (born 1954)	12 December 2016	1 June 2018	1 year, 171 days		Democratic Party	Gentiloni	Centre-left coalition PD • NCD/AP • CpE		Sergio Mattarella (2015–present)
	Giuseppe Conte (born 1964)	1 June 2018	5 September 2019	2 years, 257 days		Independent	Conte I	M5S • Lega	XVIII (2018)
		5 September 2019	13 February 2021				Conte II	M5S • PD • Art.1 • IV
	Mario Draghi (born 1947)	13 February 2021	22 October 2022	1 year, 251 days		Independent	Draghi	M5S • Lega • PD • FI • IpF • IV • Art.1 • A
	Giorgia Meloni (born 1977)	22 October 2022	Incumbent	2 years, 14 days		Brothers of Italy	Meloni	Centre-right coalition FdI • Lega • FI	XIX (2022)

• Deputy Prime Minister of Italy
• Lists of office-holders
• List of prime ministers of Italy by time in office
• Politics of Italy
• Prime Minister of Italy

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• Viviani, Maria Paola, ed. (1970). La presidenza del Consiglio dei ministri in alcuni stati dell'Europa occidentale ed in Italia (in Italian). Giuffrè.
• Rotelli, Ettore, ed. (1972). La Presidenza Del Consiglio Dei Ministri: Il Problema Del Coordinamento Dell'amministrazione Centrale in Italia, (1848–1948) (in Italian). Giuffrè.
• Marzo, Corradino; Amodio, Vito Domenico, eds. (2014). I governi della Repubblica. Storia dei Presidenti del Consiglio, Volume 1 (in Italian). Lupo. ISBN 978-8866671893.