Population to shrink by 2050
Greece will have an grizzled, dwindling population in 20 years, once the impact of immigration has worn off, and by 2050 the country will have fewer inhabitants than it does now, according to a report released by Eurostat yesterday. Over the next two decades the population of the EU is expected to increase by more than 13 million inhabitants to 470 million, the EU statistics agency said. The increase will mainly be due to migration, but after 2025 the population will begin to decline. Greece’s population is expected to rise by a total 3.2 percent until 2025 and then drop by 3.8 percent until 2050. As a result, Eurostat estimates Greece’s population in 45 years will be 10.63 million – some 409,000 fewer people than currently live in the country. The proportion of the population in working age (between 15 and 64) is also due to decline sharply during the same period. In 2050, Greece will have the fourth-lowest share of the population of working age in the EU, with 55.2 percent. The proportion of elderly people is expected to rise substantially. A third of Greeks will be over 65 by 2050, compared to less than 18 percent now.
