Demographic decline: Greece faces alarming population collapse

Six years after Greece exited its financial bailout programmes, marking the official end of a painful economic crisis, the country is now facing a new kind of emergency that could influence its social and economic structure: population decline. Projections suggest that by 2070, Greece’s population could shrink by as much as 25%, way above the EU average of 4%.

In 2022, the country recorded less than 77,000 births, the lowest in almost a century, while deaths nearly doubled that number, reaching 140,000. Nothing seems to indicate that this trend will change anytime soon.

“The demographic collapse is literally becoming an existential challenge for our future” warned Greek Prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

The latest population census, in 2021, showed a 3.1% drop in the overall population in just ten years, to less than 10.5 million people. That decade broadly corresponds to the economic crisis that the country went through, which fuelled the exodus of about half a million Greeks, especially among the young and educated segments of the population.

Those who stayed in the country still face a difficult labour market recovery, characterised by high unemployment and low wages, making it even more challenging to build stable careers and families.

In Chios, an island of 50.000 residents in the Northern Aegean Sea, Euronews spoke with Mary and Nikos, a couple in their early thirties who left Greece for the United States two years ago, and only visit occasionally for holidays. They reflected on their decision to emigrate, citing economic difficulties as the main reason.

“If you have to work 10 to 12 hours a day and not earn as much money as you want to, how can you buy a house? And how can you raise a family? You can’t” Mary said.