Ageing

Bulgaria is grappling with a serious demographic crisis, as the country's population has decreased by approximately 2.5 million people since the early 1990s. This decline is attributed to several factors, including low birth rates, an aging population, and significant emigration, particularly during the period from 2012 to 2019.

The population of Ukraine has decreased by eight million since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, leading to significant emigration and a drop in fertility rates, the United Nations reported on Tuesday (October 22).

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.

“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

"More immigration is necessary. Existing projections already assume substantial immigration, which, however, is insufficient to reverse aggregate aging." This bold statement was made recently by Rolf Strauch, chief economist of the European Stability Mechanism, in his latest report on demographics and financial stability.

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.

Scientists have discovered the world's oldest known seagrass in Finland, using a new method to determine the age of aquatic plants that put it at 1,403 years old, they said this week.

Greece is aging. It is a realization that keeps being mentioned more and more urgently and imperatively. Recently, ratings agency Moody's predicted a demographic "crash" for the country in 2035, by measuring the elderly dependency ratio.

Moody's warned on Tuesday that worsening demographics and the increase in the dependency ration of the elderly constitute a serious fiscal challenge as well as a cause of downgrades of states' ratings. Greece, as it states, is expected within the next decade to have the fifth highest dependency ratio among all developed economies internationally.

The share of the elderly population surpassed 10 percent for the first time in the country's history in 2023, with projections indicating it could reach 31.7 percent by 2075, according to data released by the country's statistical institution on July 30.