Greece’s population is at 11.3 million people , but how many of these are actually Greeks? Data was released on Monday afternoon by the Hellenic Statistical Authority. The information highlights facts that might prove elusive when analyzed in absolute numbers.
These facts determine than that in five years (2005-2009), the population of Greece increased from 11.083 million people to 11.305 million. This was an increase of about 222,000 people.
Of these 222,000 people, 31,000 are Greek while 191,000 are immigrants who came to the country over the last five years. These figures add up to immigrants populating six times more than Greeks, with only 9,500 newborn Greeks in the entire nation.
It is obvious that Greeks are proportionately fewer than the immigrants living to Greece.
Births in Greece in 2009 remained at similar levels in comparison to 2008, reaching 117.933. Total fertility rates have plummeted since 1980 (2.2) to 1.3 in 2005. They have shown an upwards trend to 1.4 in 2007 and 1.5 circa 2009, but still remains below the generation replacement rate of 2.1. The average maternal age was 31.1 years in 2009 versus 25.9 at 1975. The continued increase in both absolute numbers and in the percentage of total births outside marriage is also notable.
Deaths remained at past year levels and reached 108.316 in 2009. Mortality rates present an increase from 9.3 per 1000 citizens in 1991, to 9.6 per 1000 in 2009. This is not an indicator of premature deaths but deaths due to aging.
The average age of death was 71.8 in 1995 for men and 77.6 in women. It is now increasing drastically, at 74.0 for men and 80.0 years for women in 2009.
Infant mortality rate shows a continuous decline from 18.0 in 1980. The rate reached the levels of 2.7 in 2008 and 3.1 in 2009.
Life expectancy at birth rose to 77.7 years for men and 82.8 for women in 2009, against 73.5 and 78.4 years respectively, in 1985.
The marriage rate in 2009 was 5.3 marriages per 1000 inhabitants. In 1980 the rate was 7.3 per 1000 and 9 per 1000 in 1960.
This development has had a negative effect on the number of biths.
The average age of women marrying for the first time gradually rose from 24.1 years in 1991 to 28.9 in 2009.
Also noteworthy is the rapid increase in civil marriage, which now amounts to 42% of all marriages.
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