DEMOGRAPHIC: 42% reduction in births in 15 yearstranslated

Births in Greece decreased by 42% from 2009 to 2024, with the effects varying significantly from region to region. In Thessaly, the prefectures of Trikala and Karditsa are among the nine in the country where, throughout this period, deaths were more than twice as many as births. The figures are presented by the professor of Demography and research director of the Institute of Demographic Research and Studies, Byron Kotzamanis, in an analysis of the collapse of births at the regional level. The study highlights the combination of three factors: fewer children per woman, a declining reproductive-age population and an aging population.

Births were reduced from approximately 117,440 in 2009 to 68,310 in 2024. In six prefectures of mainland Greece—Thesprotia, Grevena, Fthiotida, Kozani, Evrytania and Florina—the drop exceeded 50%. In another ten it ranged between 45% and 50%.

On the contrary, in six island prefectures the reduction was less than 30%, while in the Cyclades and Zakynthos it remained below 15%.

Two or more deaths for every birth In the entire period 2009–2024, in Greece there were 133 deaths per 100 births. However, in…