Vicente del Bosque's side are going through a rebuilding process having meekly surrendered the World Cup title in Brazil last year after exiting at the group stage.
Since then there have been signs of improvement with Spain winning three of their four Euro 2016 qualifying matches, but they have also suffered high-profile friendly defeats to France and Germany.
Italy's improvement by two places subsequently sees Antonio Conte's men return to the top 10 for the first time since June 2014, bumping Spain down to 11th.
The rest of the top 10 remain unchanged with world champions Germany leading the way ahead of Argentina and Colombia.
Lower down the order, Northern Ireland climb eight places to 43rd as they re-enter the top 50.
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