Institute of Demographic Research and Studies

A deep social divide in life and death has emerged in Athens, a study by the Institute of Demographic Research and Studies (IDEM) reveals. 

Mortality rates are significantly higher in the working-class districts of western Athens, central Athens, and Piraeus than in the wealthier northern and southern suburbs. 

“In Greece, unlike in other European countries, this international day usually goes almost unnoticed, although ageing is a particular concern, as while our total population increased by 39% between the beginning of the first post-war decade and today, those aged 65 and over increased 4.6 times (from 520 thou

The decline in births in recent decades is a fact. Nationally, we will find that they fell by 37% between 1979-1983 and 2014-19, and are expected to fall by a further 13% in the 2020-25 six-year period.

The permanent population of Greece, which reached 10.482 million in the recent census, is extremely unevenly distributed across the country. The two most populous Regional Units (RU), those of Thessaloniki and the Central Sector of Athens, host 2.09 million people (20.0% of the total population) while occupying only 2.8% of Greece’s area.

The natural balances (births-deaths) in Greece have changed, turning from positive to negative for the first time in our post-war history, essentially since 2010. The continued increase in the number of elderly has caused a increase in deaths that began in the early 1950s, while the continued decline in the number of children couples have had has caused a decline in births since 1980.