Europe is, quite literally, becoming an “old continent” – it’s been well documented. The issue of the population’s aging keeps coming back to the fore and, every time, the numbers just get worse and worse. Two months ago, the Eurostat statistics agency reported a rise in the average age in almost every country in the European Union.
Greece is no exception to this rule: In 2024, deaths were more than double compared to births, coming to 125,423 against 62,624, respectively. What’s more, as Kathimerini reported on Thursday, some 160,000 Greeks have been born in other countries in the past 20 years, while in 2024, one in nine Greeks was born outside the country’s borders. Even births among the migrant population in Greece are declining.
The brain drain is not becoming a “brain regain” as promised. Special subsidies that briefly boost family incomes are also failing to reverse the trend
The brain drain is baring its teeth. Greeks who have left the country and now reside abroad are not just of a productive age; they are also of a reproductive age. Young couples living abroad are more likely to have children not just because they live in an environment of greater job and economic security, but also because the support provided to families is much better than it is here.
Beyond the existential and philosophical thoughts it inevitably stirs in all of us, the cycle of life, birth and death is also a very practical matter and the fact is that family policy in Greece tends to be retroactive rather than proactive.
The brain drain is not becoming a “brain regain” as promised. Special subsidies that briefly boost family incomes are also failing to reverse the trend. And even if the men and women who left the country were to return – undoubtedly much to the benefit of society and the country’s economy – this would still not relieve the pressure on young couples who have stayed the course here and are unwilling or hesitant to have children. No matter how much help they may expect from their parents on so many different levels, the responsibility is not (and should not be) lifted and neither are the major challenges dealt with.
The demographic crisis is an exception when we say that the future is uncertain. Right now, 23% of Greeks are aged 65 years old or more. That will reach at least 35% in the next 30 years. There is no doubt that Greece is becoming older and grayer, and no amount of facelifts in the form of handouts and subsidies can reverse time – or the trend.