Demographics of the Hellenic Republic
Greece population pyramid in 2023
Population	10,413,982 (2023)[1]
Growth rate	-1.01 people/1,000 population (2010 est.)
Birth rate	7.9 births/1,000 population (2020 est.)
Death rate	12.3 deaths/1,000 population (July 2020 est.)
Life expectancy	82.2 years
• male	79.8 years
• female	84.7 years
Fertility rate	1.35 children born/woman (2018)[2]
Infant mortality rate	3.75 deaths per 1,000 live births (2019 est)
Age structure
0–14 years	14.1%
15–64 years	63.3%
65 and over	22.6%
Sex ratio
At birth	1.06 male(s)/female (2008 est.)
Under 15	1.06 male(s)/female
15–64 years	1.00 male(s)/female
65 and over	0.78 male(s)/female
Nationality
Nationality	noun: Greek(s) adjective: Greek
Major ethnic	Greeks

The Demographics of Greece refer to the demography of the population that inhabits the Greek peninsula. The population of Greece was estimated by the United Nations to be 10,445,365 in 2021 (including displaced refugees).

Historical overview

Greece was inhabited as early as the Paleolithic period. Prior to the 2nd millennium BC, the Greek peninsula was inhabited by various pre-Hellenic peoples, the most notable of which were the Pelasgians. The Greek language ultimately dominated the peninsula and Greece's mosaic of small city-states became culturally similar. The population estimates on the Greeks during the 4th century BC, is approximately 3.5 million on the Greek peninsula and 4 to 6.5 million in the rest of the entire Mediterranean Basin,^[3] including all colonies such as those in Magna Graecia, Asia Minor and the shores of the Black Sea.

During the history of the Byzantine Empire, the Greek peninsula was occasionally invaded by the foreign peoples like Goths, Avars, Slavs, Normans, Franks and other Romance-speaking peoples who had betrayed the Crusades. The only group, however, that planned to establish permanent settlements in the region were the Slavs. They settled in isolated valleys of the Peloponnese and Thessaly, establishing segregated communities that were referred by the Byzantines as Sclaveni. Traces of Slavic culture in Greece are very rare and by the 9th century, the Sclaveni in Greece were largely assimilated. However, some Slavic communities managed to survive in rural Macedonia. At the same time a large Sephardi Jewish emigrant community from the Iberian peninsula established itself in Thessaloniki, while there were population movements of Arvanites and "Vlachs" (Aromanians and Megleno-Romanians), who established communities in several parts of the Greek peninsula. The Byzantine Empire ultimately fell to Ottoman Turks in the 15th century and as a result Ottoman colonies were established in the Balkans, notably in Macedonia, the Peloponnese and Crete. Many Greeks either fled to other European nations or to geographically isolated areas (i.e. mountains and heavily forested territories) to escape foreign rule. For those reasons, the population decreased in the plains, while increasing on the mountains. The population transfers with Bulgaria and Turkey that took place in the early 20th century, added in total some two million Greeks to the demography of the Greek Kingdom.

During the next decades, the population of Greece continued to increase, except during a large part of 1940s due to World War II and subsequent events. After 1940s the population of Greece continued to grow, though on a decreased pace after 1960s, due to a gradual decrease in fertility and emigration to various countries, such as West Germany, Australia, United Kingdom and many others. The birth rate decreased significantly in 1980s, while in 1987 the Greek population surpassed 10 million. At this time Greece had started to appear a positive migration rate, due to the return of Greek Civil War refugees and international immigration. During the nineties the population increased by close a million, as the collapse of the communist governments in Eastern Europe and the economic downturn resulted in a significant influx of Eastern European immigrants in Greece and especially from the Balkans, including many Greeks living in these countries. In 2000s the population continued to increase reaching 11 million, thanks to an increased birth rate, a stable influx of migrants from other countries and the return of Greeks from United States, Germany, Australia and other countries. In the 2010s, in the wake of the Greek financial crisis, the population started to decrease and birthrates plummeted, while death rates increased due to an aging population. Many Greeks emigrated abroad, while more recently the population decrease has been largely stabilized due to foreign immigration.

Population

Population of Greece since 1961.

^[4]

According to the 2001 census the population of Greece was 10,964,020. Eurostat estimations as of January 2008 gave the number of 11,214,992 inhabitants in the Greek peninsula. According to the official 2011 census, which used sophisticated methodology, the population of Greece was 10,816,286.

By region

Greece is divided into nine geographic regions. The population of each region according to the 2001, 2011 and 2021 censuses is represented in the graph below, comparing the change in population over a 20 year period.

^[5][6][7]

Region	Population (1971)	Population (1981)	Population (1991)	Population (2001)	Population (2011)	Population (2021)
Aegean Islands	417,813	428,030	456,555	508,807	508,246	522,763
Central Greece	3,532,248	4,125,463	4,366,900	4,591,568	4,586,626	4,514,663
Crete	456,642	501.909	536,433	601,131	623,065	624,408
Epirus	310,334	323.871	327,176	353,822	336,856	319,991
Ionian Islands	184,443	182.327	189,338	212,984	207,855	204,532
Macedonia	1,890,684	2,116,361	2,225,690	2,424,765	2,402,771	2,266,206
Peloponnese	986,912	1,014,485	1,045,020	1,155,019	1,046,897	995,410
Thessaly	659,913	695,724	729,268	753,888	732,762	688,255
Thrace	329,582	341,180	340,755	362,038	371,208	346,259
Total	8,768,372	9,729,350	10,223,392	10,964,020	10,816,286	10,482,487

/ = change since previous census

Fertility rate

Greece total fertility rate by region (2014)

1.7 – 2.0   1.5 – 1.7   1.3 – 1.5   < 1.3

The total fertility rate is the number of children born per woman. It is based on fairly good data for the entire period. Sources: Our World In Data and Gapminder Foundation.^[8]

Years	1850	1851	1852	1853	1854	1855	1856	1857	1858	1859	1860[8]
Total fertility rate in Greece	6.03	5.81	5.59	5.36	5.14	4.92	4.7	4.47	4.25	4.03	3.81

Years	1861	1862	1863	1864	1865	1866	1867	1868	1869	1870[8]
Total fertility rate in Greece	3.95	3.87	3.78	3.94	3.73	4.03	3.83	3.85	3.86	3.77

Years	1871	1872	1873	1874	1875	1876	1877	1878	1879	1880[8]
Total fertility rate in Greece	3.81	3.83	3.7	3.91	3.78	3.97	3.82	3.64	3.32	3.27

Years	1881	1882	1883	1884	1885	1886	1887	1888	1889	1890[8]
Total fertility rate in Greece	3.28	3.38	3.35	3.83	3.82	4.01	4.19	4.38	4.57	4.73

Years	1891	1892	1893	1894	1895	1896	1897	1898	1899	1900[8]
Total fertility rate in Greece	4.8	4.88	4.95	5.03	5.1	5.18	5.25	5.32	5.4	5.47

Years	1901	1902	1903	1904	1905	1906	1907	1908	1909	1910[8]
Total fertility rate in Greece	5.35	5.22	5.1	4.97	4.85	4.72	4.6	4.47	4.35	4.22

Years	1911	1912	1913	1914	1915	1916	1917	1918	1919	1920[8]
Total fertility rate in Greece	4.09	3.97	3.84	3.72	3.59	3.47	3.34	3.22	3.09	2.97

Life expectancy

Life expectancy in Greece since 1877

Life expectancy in Greece since 1960 by gender

Period	Life expectancy in Years	Period	Life expectancy in Years
1950–1955	65.8	1985–1990	75.6
1955–1960	67.2	1990–1995	77.4
1960–1965	69.3	1995–2000	78.1
1965–1970	70.1	2000–2005	79.1
1970–1975	71.8	2005–2010	80.0
1975–1980	72.8	2010–2015	80.6
1980–1985	74.5	2015–2020	81.2

Source: UN World Population Prospects^[9]

Vital statistics from 1921

^{[10][11][12][13][14][15]}

Source: Hellenic Statistical Authority^[16] and World Bank.^[17]

Notable events in Greek demography:

• 1923 – Population exchange between Greece and Turkey
• 1946-1949 - Refugees of the Greek Civil War
• 1967-1974 – Greek junta

Current vital statistics

Period[21]	Live births	Deaths	Natural increase
January - December 2022	77.106	142.573	-65,467
January - December 2023	72.244	129.587	-57,343
Difference	-4,862 (-6.31%)	-12,986 (-9.11%)	+8,124

Other demographic statistics

Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2019.^[23]

• One birth every 6 minutes
• One death every 4 minutes
• Net loss of one person every 21 minutes
• One net migrant every 53 minutes

Population pyramid of Greece in 1928

Demographic statistics according to the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.^[20]

Population pyramid of Greece in 2017

Population

10,413,982 (Jan 2023 est.) :10,718,565 (Jan 2020 est.)

10,761,523 (July 2018 est.)

10,768,477 (July 2017 est.)

10,768,193 (Jan 2017 est.)

Age structure

0-14 years: 14.53% (male 794,918/female 745,909)

15-24 years: 10.34% (male 577,134/female 519,819)

25-54 years: 39.6% (male 2,080,443/female 2,119,995)

55-64 years: 13.1% (male 656,404/female 732,936)

65 years and over: 22.43% (male 1,057,317/female 1,322,176) (2020 est.)

0-14 years: 13.83% (male 767,245/female 722,313)

15-24 years: 9.67% (male 532,179/female 509,487)

25-54 years: 42.45% (male 2,275,984/female 2,295,082)

55-64 years: 13.13% (male 692,420/female 721,641)

65 years and over: 20.91% (male 986,816/female 1,265,310) (2017 est.)

0–14 years: 14.2% (male 787,143/female 741,356)

15–64 years: 66.2% (male 3,555,447/female 3,567,383)

65 years and over: 19.6% (male 923,177/female 1,185,630) (2011 est.)

Median age

total: 45.3 years. Country comparison to the world: 9th

male: 43.7 years

female: 46.8 years (2020 est.)

total: 44.5 years

male: 43.5 years

female: 45.6 years (2017 est.)

total: 42.5 years

male: 41.4 years

female: 43.6 years (2011 est.)

Mother's mean age at first birth

29.9 years (2017 est.)

Total fertility rate

1.39 children born/woman (2021 est.) Country comparison to the world: 225th

Population growth rate

-0.34% (2021 est.) Country comparison to the world: 221st

Birth rate

7.72 births/1,000 population (2021 est.) Country comparison to the world: 222nd

8.4 births/1,000 population (2017 est.)

Death rate

12.05 deaths/1,000 population (2021 est.) Country comparison to the world: 14th

Net migration rate

0.97 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2021 est.) Country comparison to the world: 62nd

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 81.28 years. Country comparison to the world: 41st

male: 78.73 years

female: 84 years (2021 est.)

Infant mortality rate

total: 3.61 deaths/1,000 live births. Country comparison to the world: 204th

male: 4 deaths/1,000 live births

female: 3.19 deaths/1,000 live births (2021 est.)

Ethnic groups

population: Greek 91.6%, Albanian 4.4%, other 4% (2011) Note: data represent citizenship, since Greece does not collect data on ethnicity

Dependency ratios

total dependency ratio: 56.1

youth dependency ratio: 21.3

elderly dependency ratio: 34.8

potential support ratio: 2.9 (2020 est.)

Religions

Greek Orthodox (official) 81–90%, Muslim 2%, other 3%, none 4–15%, unspecified 1% (2015 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 79.7% of total population (2020)

rate of urbanization: 0.22% annual rate of change (2015–20 est.)

Unemployment, youth ages 15–24

total: 39.9%. Country comparison to the world: 11th

male: 36.4%

female: 43.9% (2018 est.)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)

total: 20 years

male: 20 years

female: 20 years (2018)

Immigration

Foreign citizens in Greece in 1998 by country of citizenship.

Greece has received a large number of immigrants since the early 1990s. The majority of them come from the neighbouring countries. As of 2011, the number of foreigners in an enumerated total of 10,815,197 people was 911,299.

Foreign-born by country (Eurostat):^[24]

Country	2010	2014	2020 n-aEU[25]	2020 EU[26]	2021[27]
Albania	384,600	337,719	346,918	—	374,926
Bulgaria	45,700	40,914	—[note 1]	72,777	35,444
Pakistan	20,100	18,040	19,167	—	35,309
Romania	32,400	27,191	—[note 1]	44,600	28,250
Georgia	62,600	45,061	23,050	—	26,083
Bangladesh	14,200	8,362		—	17,189
Ukraine	13,300	10,662	18,056	—	16,408
Afghanistan				—	15,457
United Kingdom	5,200	10,736	—[note 1]	14,752	13,517
Russia	55,700	42,959	14,772	—	13,415
Egypt	10,200	9,813	11,652	—	12,453
India			13,259	—	12,385
Cyprus	10,200	10,881	—[note 1]	13,850	12,362
Syria	7,500	8,306		—	10,785
Philippines			10,696	—	10,585
Poland	10,800	16,635	—[note 1]	13,560
Germany	29,300	25,722	—[note 1]	10,336
China			19,814	—
Turkey	9,500	12,469		—
others	117,100	102,006	65,483[note 1]	736,470[note 2]	127,287
Total	828,400	727,477	524,813[note 1]	906,345	761,855

Nationality of Greece over time

Nationality	1951		1961		1971		1981		1991		2001		2011		2021[28]		2021 census[27]
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
Greeks	7,602,230	99.60%	8,333,817	99.35%	8,675,804	98.94%	9,568,017	98.24%	10,092,624	98.37%	10,166,927	92.73%	9,903,268	91.57%	9,777,439	91.34%	9,716,889	92.70%
Foreigners	30,571	0.40%	54,736	0.65%	92,568	1.06%	171,424	1.76%	167,276	1.63%	797,093	7.27%	911,929	8.43%	921,485	8.61%	761,855	7.27%
EU-27	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	199,101	1.84%	168,550	1.57%	116,669	1.11%
Non-EU															752,900	7.1%	641,921	6.12%
Total	7,632,801		8,388,553		8,768,372		9,739,441		10,259,900		10,964,020		10,815,197		10,698,837		10,482,487

Ethnic groups, languages and religion

The population of northern Greece has primarily been ethnically, religiously and linguistically diverse.^[31] The Muslim minority of Greece is the only explicitly recognized minority in Greece by the government. The officials define it as a group of Greek Muslims numbering 98,000 people, consisting of Turks (50%), Pomaks (35%) and Romani (15%). No other minorities are officially acknowledged by the government.^[32][33][34] There is no official information for the size of the ethnic, linguistic and religious minorities because asking the population questions pertaining to the topic have been abolished since 1951.^[35][36]

Map showing the distribution of major Modern Greek dialect areas

Note: Greek is the dominant language throughout Greece; inclusion in a non-Greek language zone does not necessarily imply that the relevant minority language is still spoken there, or that its speakers consider themselves an ethnic minority.

Minorities in Greece according to Minority Rights Group International:^[38]

• Roma: 160,000–250,000
• Vlachs (Aromanians and Megleno-Romanians): 200,000
• Macedonian Slavs: 200,000
• Arvanites: 95,000
• Turks: 90,000
• Pomaks: 35,000

The official language of Greece is Greek, spoken by almost all as a second language at least. Additionally, there are a number of linguistic minority groups that are bilingual in a variety of non-Greek languages, and parts of these groups identify ethnically as Greeks.

Languages spoken in Greece:

According to the Greek constitution, Eastern Orthodox Christianity is recognized as the "prevailing religion" in Greece. During the centuries that Greece was part of the Ottoman Empire, besides its spiritual mandate, the Orthodox Church, based in Constantinople (present-day Istanbul), also functioned as an official representative of the Christian population of the empire. The Church is often credited with the preservation of the Greek language, values, and national identity during Ottoman times. The Church was also an important rallying point in the war for independence against the Ottoman Empire, although the official Church in Constantinople initially condemned the breakout of the armed struggle in fear of retaliation from the Ottoman side. The Church of Greece was established shortly after the formation of a Greek national state. Its authority to this day extends only to the areas included in the independent Greek state before the Balkan Wars of 1912–1913. There is a Muslim minority concentrated in Thrace and officially protected by the Treaty of Lausanne (1923). Besides Pomaks (Muslim Bulgarian^[55] speakers) and Roma, it consists mainly of ethnic Turks, who speak Turkish and receive instruction in Turkish at special government-funded schools. There are also a number of Jews in Greece, most of whom live in Thessaloniki. There are also some Greeks who adhere to a reconstruction of the ancient Greek religion.^[56] A place of worship has been recognized as such by court.^[57]

Education

Greek education is free and compulsory for children between the ages of 5 and 15. English study is compulsory from first grade through high school. University education, including books, is also free, contingent upon the student's ability to meet stiff entrance requirements. A high percentage of the student population seeks higher education. More than 100,000 students are registered at Greek universities, and 15% of the population currently holds a university degree. Admission in a university is determined by state-administered exams, the candidate's grade-point average from high school, and his/her priority choices of major. About one in four candidates gains admission to Greek universities.

Greek law does not currently offer official recognition to the graduates of private universities that operate in the country, except for those that offer a degree valid in another European Union country, which is automatically recognized by reciprocity. As a result, a large and growing number of students are pursuing higher education abroad. The Greek Government decides through an evaluation procedure whether to recognize degrees from specific foreign universities as qualification for public sector hiring. Other students attend private, post-secondary educational institutions in Greece that are not recognized by the Greek Government. At the moment extensive public talk is made for the reform of the Constitution to recognize private higher education in Greece as equal with public and to place common regulations for both.

The number of Greek students studying at European institutions is increasing along with EU support for educational exchange. In addition, nearly 5,000 Greeks are studying in the United States, about half of whom are in graduate school. Greek per capita student representation in the US (one every 2,200) is among the highest in Europe.

See also

• Demographic history of Greece
• Turks of Western Thrace
• Immigration to Greece
• Minorities in Greece
• Aging of Europe
• Albanian immigrants in Greece

Notes

References

External links

• General Secretariat of National Statistical Service of Greece (in Greek and English)
• The World Factbook