Greek premier pledges more measures to tackle country’s severe demographic problem

ATHENS

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis pledged his government would take more measures to tackle the country’s severe demographic problem, media reports said Thursday.

Rearrangement of government policies to support young families is a priority, Mitsotakis said in a speech at the "Demographic 2024 - A National Priority" conference in Athens, according to public broadcaster, ERT.

Noting that the government has already taken measures to combat low birth rates, including increasing maternity allowance to € 2,400 ($2,600), retroactively for 2023 and tax incentives, he said: “Closer cooperation with the private sector is underway to create more incentives for all those who want to start a family.”

The premier announced that government policies aim to support working mothers, noting that women are the ones who primarily decide to have children and families.

Revealing that many countries also face similar demographic crises, Mitsotakis said it is a major economic and social problem.

"Getting results with the demographic problem requires patience and a lot of time. There are no magical solutions,” he said.

The Greek Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) announced in late December that the resident population fell by 0.5% in 2023 compared to the previous year, with nearly 76,000 births compared to about 140,000 deaths.

Eurostat said Greece’s fertility rate was among the lowest in the EU with 1.32 births per woman as of 2022.