In 2015, Voltri and the nearby hamlets included in Genoa's VII Municipio (Crevari, Acquasanta, Vesima, Fabbriche) had a total population of 12,402.

Voltri is one of the 3 former municipalities (the other ones are Pra' and Pegli) being part of the Genoa's city VII Municipio.

In the Middle Ages it was a hamlet part of the Republic of Genoa, its main activity being the production of paper.

In 1796 Voltri was the site of a battle between the French troops of Napoléon Bonaparte and of the Austrian Empire allied with the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont.

After the fall of the First French Empire, it became an autonomous commune in the Sardinian territories, a status it kept until 1926, when the Fascist government united it to Genoa.