13 January -
Costa Concordia disaster – a cruise liner capsized, killing at least 32 people on board.
13 January - Italy's credit rating is downgraded to BBB+ by
Standard & Poor's.
15 February - Several Indian fishermen are killed in a firefight between riflemen of the
Italian Navy and
pirates off the coast of the
Kerala,
India. The soldiers involved are being held by the authorities in
New Delhi.
29 May - Emilia-Romagna and Lombardy are again affected by three new strong earthquakes with a magnitude greater than 5 (5.8, 5.3, 5.2).
27 September - Italian newspaper editor
Alessandro Sallusti is sentenced to 14 months in prison for publishing libelous remarks, in a landmark case that significantly limits free speech in Italy.
26 September - Former prime minister
Silvio Berlusconi is sentenced to 4 years in the first degree (including 3 condoned) in the process of tax fraud on the acquisition of television rights group
Mediaset.
31 September - The Monti administration endorses the reorganizing of the Provinces, which will start in 2014. The provinces will drop from 86 to 51. Among the most discussed mergers are Livorno with Pisa, Pescara with Chieti and Avellino with Benevento. The Provincial Administration instead will disappear in January 2013.