Demographic problem grows
In 2022, births in Greece fell below 80,000 for the first time, compared to 150,000 in 1980. Therefore, half of Greece’s population is now over 46 years old, when in 2000, the median age was 39, per the official estimates.
At the same time, more than one in five inhabitants of the country are over the age of 65 (16% in 2000), while the percentage of people over 80 years old is 6% (double compared to 2000). In 2070, women aged 90 and over will be the largest group of the population, totaling 283,294 people or 3.6% of the total population, followed by men aged 60-64 (278,800).
In this context, the government’s National Demographic Action Plan is, according to Minister of Social Cohesion and Family Sofia Zacharaki, a holistic framework for developing strategies, setting goals, formulating policies and implementing appropriate measures, with a 10-year horizon.
That is a plan of five pillars, 20 objectives and more than 200 actions with a total budget of 20 billion euros, including measures already taken in 2019, which concerns all age groups. However, even if the planned measures run perfectly, women born after 2010 will only have an average of 1.8 children each.
In the worst-case scenario, Greece’s population will shrink by 25% by 2070.
