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Abstract: DEMOGRAPHICS, STATISTICS AND FASCISM. CORRADO GINI AND THE ISTAT, FROM SCIENCE TO IDEOLOGY (1926-1932) The General Statics Institute (ISTAT) was established in 1926 and placed directly under the Mussolini’s attentive auspices. Its founder, Corrado Gini, is a demographer, well-known for his cyclical theory of populations, for his functions as an expert and, with Mussolini’s arrival to power, for his participation in the building of the fascist State. Although considered by historians to be a central figure in placing demographics at the disposal of fascism, he nonetheless resigns his post as President of the ISTAT in 1932. Can this be simply explained as a career upset resulting from a conflict of authority? This article intends to explore, through an account of Gini’s presidency, the complex relationships that determine scientific activity and the demands of regime propaganda, a complexity crystallized in the very advent of the instrument of public statistics.