Etudes par pays volume 2, PDF, 346 p., 1,4 Mo - Femise

11873_2002 Study D2: Poverty, Informal Sector, Health and Labour
1. COUNTRY PROFILE: ESSENTIAL FIGURES
1.1. Population
According to the 2001 Greek population census, the population of Greece
was 10,964,020, of which 5,431,816 were men and 5,532,204 were women.
The population is aged, with people over 65 representing 17.1 per cent of
the total and children below 14 representing 5.4 per cent, whereas 31 per
cent of the population is between 40 and 64 years of age (Table A1).
Between 1991 and 2001, population grew at an annual average rate of 0.67
per cent compared to a corresponding growth rate, in the previous decade,
of 0.52 per cent. Greece, as the other Western European countries, has been
experiencing a declining natural population growth. During the period 1991-
2001, the average annual growth rate was of the order of 0.4 per cent.
Particularly in recent years, the situation has been aggravated, with the
number of deaths exceeding since 1997 the number of births. The birth rate,
in 2001, has dropped to 0.98 per cent and the death rate has climbed to 1.01
per cent. The total fertility rate per woman of reproduction age, from an
average of 2.3 children, during 1970-75, dropped to 1.3 children during
1995-2000. Thus, if it wasn’t for immigration, the Greek population would
have been roughly at the same level as 10 yeas ago.
Net migration, calculated as the difference of population between 1991 and
2001 minus the total number of births plus the total number of deaths during
the decade, was of the order of 700,223. The 2001 census of population
registered 796,713 persons (436,225 men and 360,488 women) with a
foreign citizenship, the Albanians representing 56 per cent of all foreigners
(Table A2). In reality, however, the number of foreigners in Greece is
believed to approach 1,000,000, given first, the considerable number that
did not apply for legalization in the recent government call, becoming thus
‘’invisible” during the census day, and second, the additional arrivals in the
meantime.
The overwhelming majority (98 per cent) of population is ethnic Greeks and
94 per cent belong to the Greek Orthodox Christian persuasion. The official
and spoken language is Greek of which the immigrants of various
nationalities seem to get rather quickly at least a minimum knowledge for
the bare communication with the native population.
FONDAZIONE CENSIS
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