The 2011 population census recorded a major reversal compared to data from other decades. According to data released by the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT), people coming to Greece until 1996 were mostly of Greek origin, while in 2011, most legal immigrants recorded were of foreign nationality.
In particular, during the year prior to the census, the official registered foreign residents were 79,554, 43,341 of which were men and 36,213 women.
42,992 persons came from the European Union, 13,780 from other European countries, 12,017 from Asia, 4,159 from Africa, 4,026 from North America, 1,315 and from Oceania, South Caribbean or Central America. 55,742 resided in urban areas and 23,812 in rural areas.
Of all those who settled in the country the year prior to the census, 33,751 (42.4% of the total share) had Greek nationality. As for the rest, 10,929 persons (32.4%) were expatriates from Germany, 4,869 (14.4%) from the UK and 3,086 (9.1%) from the USA.
Foreign nationals were 45,803 (57.6% of the total share). Most came from Albania (10,165 persons or 22.2%), Bulgaria (7,379 or 16.1%), Romania (3,392 or 7.4%), Pakistan (2,944 or 6.4%) and Afghanistan (2,865 or 6.3%).
During the five years prior to the census, those who chose Greece as their permanent residence reached 329,556 people, of which 172,055 were men and 157,501 women.
128,434 persons (39%) had Greek citizenship. Μost were expatriates from Germany (42,805 persons or 33.3%), the UK (20,022 or 15.6%) and the USA (10,516 or 8.2%).
Foreign nationals officially settled in Greece reached 201,122 (61%). Most of them came from Albania (64,087 persons or 31.9%), Bulgaria (26,321 or 13.1%), Romania (15,288 or 7.6%), Pakistan (15,086 or 7.5%) and Georgia (7,119 or 3.5%).
According to the census, 2,037,196 people (18.8% of residents) said they settled in Greece coming from a foreign country where they had lived for at least one year, while 68.8% came to Greece after 1990.
Corresponding data for the European Union countries reveal high rates of immigration in Luxembourg (34.9%) and Cyprus (27.4%). In Ireland, the inflow rate was 17.8%, 17.4% in Portugal and 12.6% in the UK. The lowest rates were recorded in Romania (0.7%) and Slovakia (1.9%).
According to the census, the Greece’s permanent population – aged one year and older – reached 10,712,409 people (5,249,971 men and 5,462,438 women), while the permanent population aged five years and older, was 10,279,043 people (5,028,435 men and 5,250,608 women).
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