The mayors of the Aegean islands have expressed serious concerns about the low birth rates in their regions.
THE demographic It is a serious problem for Greece, the impact of which is faced directly by the small Aegean islands, whose authorities have warned that low birth rates mean collapse for these places.
Find incentives for young people to return»
A typical example is Agios Efstratios, a small island in the northern Aegean with no more than 250 inhabitants. “There are no girls on the island. Or at least there are no more than two women under 30,” said Mayor Kostas Sinanis. “The same goes for boys. We must look for incentives that bring boys and girls back to the island, to the place where they were born and raised, to start their families. Unfortunately, we had one birth last year and another three years ago.”
Greece has the lowest birth rates
In 2022, Greece recorded the lowest number of births in 92 years – and this year, the country recorded the second biggest population decline in the EU.
Greece’s birth rate is one of the lowest on the continent, 1.3 babies per woman, well below the 2.5 needed for population growth. Economic projections show that its workforce will decline by 50% by 2100, while its production will decline by 31% during the same period.
Michalis Vlastarakis of the Eurobank group warned that if nothing is done, disaster will follow.
“If we don’t do something, in about 25 years, in two decades, a third of the population will be over 65 and by 2050 we will be 2.5 million fewer,” Vlastarakis said.
“You don’t need to be an economist to understand the implications of these projections for economic indicators, GDP, the workforce, the insurance system, pensions, health and education, even if there are fewer schools”.
Greece’s Family Ministry said a few days ago that it plans to spend €20 billion by 2035 on incentives to stem the decline, including cash benefits and tax incentives.
Source: Euronews