Both in the short term and in the long term, Greece is called upon to resolve a series of social, economic and ecological problems. However, there is one issue which, although not discussed as often as the rest, is of equal (or even more) weighting importance: demographics.

THE tageszeitung was found in Nea Zichni near Serres, about an hour from Thessaloniki. It is one of the many villages in Greece that see their population decreasing more and more. “Once Nea Zichni was bustling with life. In the vast plains around Nea Zichni there were monocultures of tobacco, which was even known internationally for its top quality […] Growing tobacco is laborious, but it brought in quite a bit of money. In 1961 there were 4,000 inhabitants. Back then, the children spent entire afternoons playing in the picturesque alleys of the village until the sun went down.” But things have changed since then.

“Tobacco was increasingly losing its value, but structural changes never materialized. Nea Zichni has neither mountains nor sea. The nearby beaches are too far away to attract holidaymakers here – a fact fatal to the village. New Zealand is dying. It now has just 1,000 inhabitants, having lost 75% of its population in 60 years – and the trend is still downward. Most of the residents are elderly, many are over 80.”

The most worrying thing is that Nea Zichni “is not an isolated case in Greece. The opposite […] According to official data, from 2005 until today, the population of Greece has decreased by approximately 740,000 people, i.e. by 7% – within 16 years […] In the last decade, only 2 of the 13 Greek regions have seen an increase in population: the regions of Crete and the South Aegean – thanks to the booming tourist centers of Rhodes, Kos, Mykonos and Santorini.”

How can demographics be addressed?

In order to deal with the demographic problem, “in the long term, the flight of young people from the country should be stopped, those who have left should return, and above all, a child-friendly environment should be created, so that young couples can have as many children as they want, when the they want Today, however, there is no such environment”, he explains to taz Byron Kotzamanis, Professor of Demography and Regional Development at the University of Thessaly.

At the same time, “in Greece there are also high unemployment rates among young people,” emphasizes Pavlos Baltas, Demographic Analysis expert at the National Center for Social Research, adding that “access to housing is also needed, that is, reasonable rent prices. But Greece has the highest housing costs in the EU.” Although pan-European an average of 18.9% of disposable income is spent on housing needs, in Greece 34.2% is spent (based on Eurostat data for 2021).

As the Berlin newspaper emphasizes, “the measures taken by the Greek government do not slow down the population decline. The child allowance for a household with an annual income of up to 15,000 euros is 28 euros per month and per child. Crumbs. At least the allowance is set to increase significantly in the new year. However, the Greek state is generous when it comes to births: the birth allowance effective from 2020 is 2,000 euros, while for twins it reaches 4,000 and for triplets 6,000 euros”.

At the same time, life expectancy is constantly increasing, as is the average age of the population. Today the average age of the inhabitants in Greece is around 46 years – in 2050 “Greece is expected to have only 9 million inhabitants, with an average age of 53.4 years. […] Less and less people, more and more old people.”

Although many are sounding the alarm, the Greek governments turn a deaf ear. As he points out in taz former minister Manolis Drettakis, who has been dealing with demographic changes in Greece for a long time, “the problem has been known for decades. And all the Greek governments are responsible for the tragic demographic developments, which have not taken the required drastic and effective measures”.