The latest figures by Greece’s statistics authority (EL.STAT) regarding the population decline in the country are disturbing, as the number of births over the past 15 years has sharply decreased.
Specifically, 118,302 live births were recorded in 2008, while in 2023 the number fell to 71,455, nearly 40%.
The dropping numbers have also drastically affected the number of pupils attending primary schools, as well as tertiary education, with the specter of empty classes and auditoriums now on the horizon.
Come next month, September, the number of first grade primary school pupils is expected to reach nearly 72,000, when in 2010 the same number was more than 115,000.
As the above figures show, more than 1,750 classes have been “lost” in 15 years, when calculating that a first-grade class consists of 25 pupils. The ratio translates into the “disappearance” of four out of 10 children.
As such, experts warn that if the decline in births continues at the same rate over the next 15 years, then first grade classrooms will have fewer than 60,000 pupils in less than two decades.
