Greece had 10,432,481 inhabitants at the 2021 census, about 400,000 fewer than ten years earlier. It is one of Europe's fastest-ageing countries: there are now almost two elderly people for every child.
Where Greeks live
More than a third of the population lives in Attica, the metropolitan area of Athens and Piraeus. The second city, Thessaloniki, has about a million people in its urban area. Many islands and mountain areas, by contrast, have suffered long depopulation: the young left for the cities or abroad, and in many villages only the elderly remain in winter.
Falling births
In 2025 65,594 babies were born in Greece, the lowest number ever recorded, while deaths exceed 120,000 every year. The average number of children per woman is about 1.3, among the lowest in Europe. The causes include the economic crisis, which drove many young people to emigrate and delay starting a family, housing costs and job insecurity.
A history of migration
Greece's population has been shaped by great movements:
- 1890-1920Mass emigration to the United States.
- 1923Under the Treaty of Lausanne, the population exchange with Turkey brings about 1.2 million Greeks from Asia Minor to Greece, while about 400,000 Muslims leave.
- 1950-1975Hundreds of thousands of Greeks leave for Germany, Australia and Canada.
- 1990sAfter the fall of communism many immigrants arrive, especially from Albania.
- 2010-2018During the economic crisis hundreds of thousands of young graduates emigrate.
- 2015Lesbos and other Aegean islands become Europe's gateway for over 800,000 refugees.
The descendants of emigrants form a large diaspora: millions of people of Greek origin live in the United States, Australia (Melbourne has one of the largest Greek communities in the world), Germany, the United Kingdom and Canada, plus the Greek Cypriots of Cyprus.
Minorities and foreigners
The population is very homogeneous in language and religion. In Thrace there is a Muslim minority recognised by the Treaty of Lausanne, speaking Turkish, Pomak or Romani. Around 7% of residents hold foreign citizenship, mostly Albanian, followed by Bulgarians, Romanians, Georgians, Pakistanis and others.
Family and society
Family remains at the heart of Greek life: ties between generations are strong, grandparents help raise grandchildren and many young people live with their parents into their thirties. Women first voted in parliamentary elections in 1952. Sundays, holidays and above all Easter bring families together at the table, and in villages social life revolves around the square and the kafenio.
See also Greece in numbers and Italians in Greece.