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The United Nations estimated the population of Greece to be 10,445,365 in 2021, including refugees. Attica, the most populated region in Greece, enclosing the capital city Athens, is home to 35 percent of the nation’s total population. The area has a total population of 3.7 million permanent inhabitants. The map below shows the area where 40% Of the Greek population lives.
Greece was settled as early as the Paleolithic period. During the 4th century BC, the population assessment of the Greeks is roughly 3.5 million on the Greek peninsula. At that time when the population of the rest of the Mediterranean basin was 4-6.5 million.
During Late Modern History, Greece has seen a steady increase in its population, excluding a large part of the 1940s because of the Second World War. After the 1940s, the population of Greece continued to increase, though at a declining speed after the 1960s, because of a steady decrease in fertility and emigration to other developed western countries. The birth rate dropped considerably in the 1980s, while in 1987, the Greek population reached 10 million. At this time, Greece had begun to appear a positive migration rate because of the return of Greek Civil War refugees and global immigration.
During the 1990s, the population grew by close to a million. The collapse of the communist regimes in Eastern Europe and the economic deterioration resulted in a considerable inflow of Eastern European immigrants in Greece, particularly from the Balkans, including many Greeks settling in these nations.
In the 2000s, the population continued to grow, surpassing 11 million, thanks to a risen birth rate, a steady inflow of migrants from other countries, and the return of Greeks from the U.S., Germany, Australia, and other nations.
In the 2010s, in the wake of the Greek economic crisis, the population began to decline, and birthrates descended while death rates grew because of an aging population. Many Greeks currently migrated abroad, while more recently, the population decline is stabilizing mainly because of foreign immigration.
According to the new national Census, the map below, created by Reddit user Juggertrout, shows population change in Greece by province from 2011 to 2021.
