Births in Greece fell 10% during crisis, stillbirths up 21%, public health study finds
The number of births in Greece has dropped by just over 10 percent since the crisis began, according to a study carried out by researchers at the National School of Public Health.
The study found that there were 10.45 births per thousand citizens in 2009 but this dropped to 9.39 births in 2011, a fall of 10.13 percent.
Researchers also found there was a marked increase in the number of stillbirths. In 2008, there were 3.31 stillborn babies for every 1,000 healthy births. This rose to just over 4 stillbirths per thousand in 2011, a rise of 21.15 percent.
Efi Simou, who headed the research, linked the fall in births to the deepening recession and the rise in stillbirths to an increase in unemployment, particularly among women.
“The findings of the research should not surprise us because it has already been observed in academic publications that recessions are linked to a fall in the number of births,” Simou told Eleftherotypia newspaper, which published her study.
