Demographic Structure
Key Indicators
Total Population: 10,858,000
Female Population: 5,484,000 (50.8%)
Male Population: 5,303,690 (49.2%)
0-14 Years: 15.20%
15-64 years: 67.71%
Over 65: 17.08%
Average Life: 81.4 years
Basic Education Rate. : 96%
Mortality Rate: 0.93%
Birth Rate: 0.98%
Infant Mortality Rate: 0.38%
Fertility: 1.37 (Number of babies per woman)
First Maternity Age: 29.9
Population Age and Average Lifespan
The last census in the country was conducted in 2011. The estimated population, revised on 1.1.2015, is 10,858,018, of which 5,268,390 is male and 5,589,628 is female.
The chart below shows the total estimated population of Greece from 2002 to 2015.
In 2014, births in Greece amounted to 92,148, a decrease of 2.1% compared to 2013, while deaths increased by 1.17% from 111,794 in 2013 to 113,740. The natural change of the population (ie, the change due only to the difference between births and deaths without taking into account migration) has shown a negative development with the population decreasing by 21,592 people.
It is estimated that the negative course of natural change in recent years will continue and will lead to a gradual decrease in the total population of Greece until 2050, as reflected in the latest evaluations of Eurostat.
It should be noted that since the fertility rate in the Greek population is very low, the population increase observed in the 2004-2010 period was mainly due to the immigration received by the country. In 2004, the total fertility rate (number of children per couple) was only 1.30 in Greece, while the corresponding rate in the European Union (EU) for the same period was 1.49. Although the fertility index increased between 2008 and 2010, it showed a downward trend afterwards and stabilized at a low level of 1.3 in 2012, 2013 and 2014.
Total Fertility in Greece (2003 – 2014)
The population decline that has continued since 2010 is due to the decrease in fertility as well as immigration from the country (about 80,000 Greeks emigrate each year). Both of these reasons are directly related to the financial crisis. The tables below show net migration from Greece and its effect on the natural change of population.
Net Migration in Greece
Births in Greece (2003-2014)
Average Lifespan
The most recent census in Greece, conducted in 2011, showed that the average life expectancy for women was 83.1 years and for men was 78.3 years. Compared to the average life expectancy of 80.33 years in European Union countries, Greece had a slightly higher average life expectancy of 80.91 years in 2011. Over the past decade, the average life expectancy in Greece has seen a small increase and now stands at 81.4 years.
While the proportion of the population over 65 years old, which was 20.7% in 2015, increased to 33.9% in 2050, it is estimated that this share will double to 12.7% in the population over 80 years old.
