It figures as the most pressing problem facing Greek society today, literally a “double whammy” of a shrinking population intertwined with an increasingly aging one.

The demographic crisis – according to others more of a looming catastrophe - threatening 21st Greece isn’t unique, however. Similar ominous population trends plague other western and advanced societies.

In this edition of “Explaining Greece”, demography expert Alexandra Tragaki breaks down the numbers of births and deaths in the country; trends since the end of WWII; emigration and migration, and some of the reasons behind this development are discussed. Solutions are requested, yet difficult to define.

Tragaki, a noted professor of economic demography at the Harokopio University in Athens, also warns that any implemented policies to overturn demographic decline won’t be immediately felt, even if successful, given the complexities involved with women and couples in the West having less and less babies.

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