Population and Demographics

In 2007, Greece had a total population of 11,170,957 of whom 14.3% were aged 14 or under, 66.7% were between the ages of 15 and 64, and 19% were aged 65 or over. In 1971, the figures were 10.92%, 63.72% and 25.36% respectively. The birth rate in 2007 stood 9.62 per 1,000 inhabitants (14.5 per 1,000 in 1981). At the same time the mortality rate increased slightly from 8.9 per 1,000 inhabitants in 1981 to 10.33 per 1,000 inhabitants in 2003.

Greek society has also rapidly changed with the passage of time. For example, marriage rates fell from almost 71 per 1,000 inhabitants in 1981 to 61 per 1,000 in 2003. Divorce rates on the other hand, have seen an accelerating increase - from 89.2 per 1,000 marriages in 1981 to 191 per 1,000 marriages in 2002. Almost 2/3 of Greeks live in urban areas. Greece's largest cities in 2005 were: Athens (3,190,336), Thessaloniki (980,419), Patra (216,592),Larissa (207,000), Iraklio (188,650) and Volos (151,591).

Immigration

Due to the complexity of Greek immigration policy, practices and data collection, truly reliable data on immigrant populations in Greece is difficult to gather and therefore subject to much speculation. A study from the Mediterranean Migration Observatory maintains that the 2001 Census from the NSSG recorded 762,191 persons residing in Greece without Greek citizenship, constituting around 7% of total population and that, of these, 48,560 were EU or EFTA nationals and 17,426 Cypriots with privileged status. At the same time, Albanians constituted some 56% of total immigrants, followed by Bulgarians (5%), Georgians (3%) and Romanians (3%). Americans, Cypriots, British and Germans appeared as sizeable foreign communities at around 2% each of total foreign population. The rest were around 690,000 persons of non-EU or non-homogeneis status.

The greatest cluster of non-EU immigrant population is in the Municipality of Athens -some 132,000 immigrants, at 17% of local population. Thessaloniki is the second largest cluster, with 27,000 - but reaching only 7% of local population.

According to the same study, the foreign population (documented and undocumented) residing in Greece may in reality figure upwards to 8.5% or 10.3%, that is approximately meaning 1.15 million - if immigrants with homogeneis cards are accounted for.

Minorities

Ethnic Minorities: The only minority in Greece which receives special minority treatment is the Muslim minority in Thrace, which amounts to approximately 0.95% of the total population and mainly consists of ethnic Turks, Pomaks and Roma. Other recognised ethnic minorities include approximately 35,000 Armenians, and 5,500 Jews.

Religion

The majority of Greek citizens (98%) are baptised into the Greek Orthodox Church and most of them celebrate at least the main religious feasts, especially Pascha (Greek Orthodox Easter). The Greek Government does not keep statistics on religious groups and censuses do not ask for religious affiliation. Estimates of the officially recognised Muslim minority range from 98,000 to 140,000, while the immigrant Muslim community is between 100,000 and 300,000. Greek members of the Roman Catholic faith (including both Byzantine Greek Catholics and Latin Catholics) are estimated at 50,000, with the immigrant Catholic community (mostly Poles and Byzantine Catholic Ukrainians) approximating 200,000. The Jehovah's Witnesses report having 30,000 active members. It is thought that Protestants, including Evangelicals, number approximately 30,000. The two biggest Protestant denominations are the: Greek Evangelical Church and the Free Evangelical Church. The independent Pentecostal denomination, Free Apostolic Church of Pentecost is also very active. There are also 12,000 Pentecostals from many different churches. The longstanding Jewish community numbers approximately 5,000 adherents, about 2,000 of whom reside in Thessaloniki.

Facts and Figures

• Population: 11,170,957
• Age structure:
  • 0-14 years: 14.3% (male 789,637/female 742,535)
  • 15-64 years: 66.7% (male 3,565,237/female 3,570,630)
  • 65 years and over: 19% (male 895,384/female 1,142,867)
• Median Age:
  • Total: 41.2 years
  • Male: 40 years
  • Female: 42.3 years
• Population Growth Rate: 0.163%
• Birth Rate: 9.62 births/1,000 population
• Death Rate: 10.33 deaths/1,000 population
• Net Migration Rate: 2.34 migrant(s)/1,000 population
• Sex Ratio:
  • At birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
  • Under 15 years: 1.063 male(s)/female
  • 15-64 years: 0.998 male(s)/female
  • 65 years and over: 0.783 male(s)/female
  • Total population: 0.962 male(s)/female
• Infant Mortality Rate:
  • Total: 5.34 deaths/1,000 live births
  • Male: 5.87 deaths/1,000 live births
  • Female: 4.78 deaths/1,000 live births
• Life Expectancy at Birth:
  • Total population: 79.38 years
  • Male: 76.85 years
  • Female: 82.06 years
• Total Fertility Rate: 1.35 children born/woman
• HIV/AIDS:
  • Adult prevalence rate: 0.2%
  • People living with HIV/AIDS: 9,100
• Ethnic Groups:
  • Greek 93%
  • Other (foreign citizens) 7%
    Note: figures represent citizenship, since Greece does not collect data on ethnicity
• Religions:
  • Greek Orthodox 98%
  • Muslim 1.3%
  • Other 0.7%
• Languages:
  • Greek 99% (official)
  • Other 1% (includes English and French)
• Literacy:
  • Total population: 96%
  • Male: 97.8%
  • Female: 94.2%