Prime Minister Mitsotakis called Greece’s 1.3 fertility rate, one of Europe’s lowest, ‘a national threat’ as the country faces a shrinking population.
Greece plans to invest €20 billion ($22 billion) by 2035 in incentives aimed at reversing its declining population.
With a fertility rate of 1.3, one of the lowest in Europe and far below the 2.5 needed for population growth, the country faces a significant demographic crisis.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has previously called the country’s situation “a national threat” and a “ticking time bomb” for pensions.
‘Statistics and Forecasting Models Are Ominous’
Family and Social Cohesion Minister Sofia Zacharaki made a presention on the plan on Wednesday, saying that “the statistics and forecasting models are ominous but we must all make an extra effort to overcome.”
“The ultimate goal is to improve the standard of living,” she added.
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Greece, often referred to as the cradle of Western civilization, has faced severe financial and societal challenges.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis attends a NATO summit in Madrid on June 30, 2022. Susana Vera/Reuters
One Birth Per Two Deaths
Last year, Mitsotakis told a demographics conference that Greece effectively recorded just one birth per two deaths in 2022.
“Our people are one of the oldest in Europe. Greek women aged 20 to 40 declined by 150,000 over the past five years,” he said.
‘Most Serious Crisis Humanity is Facing’
Demography experts have expressed skepticism about how much these plans can reverse the trend.
Data scientist and demographer Stephen J. Shaw has warned Population decline is “the most serious crisis humanity is facing.”
“In fact, there’s evidence that this is exactly how civilizations end,” Shaw said, detailing that the Roman Empire in its latter stages had put in place policies to try and increase birthrates including taxes on the childless.
Data scientist and demographer Stephen J. Shaw poses for a photo after an interview with NTD’s “British Thought Leaders” program. NTD
“There are Roman experts who put demography as one of the reasons that the Roman Empire—well, it didn’t fall overnight—it basically faded away. And that’s exactly what’s happening to us, now. We’re fading away. This is what it feels like to fade away,” he said.
He noted that a reason for declining birthrates was what he termed “baby shocks”: events in the global economy—such as oil or currency crises—that cause couples to delay having children.
There is no recovery from these shocks, Shaw said, and these are what contribute to lifelong childlessness.
He said that prior to 1973, childlessness was “negligible” at less than 5 percent in the UK. Within three to four years, that proportion had increased to over 20 percent and the nation is now heading towards 30 percent lifelong childlessness.
Reuters contributed to this report.
