Greece faces “demographic collapse” as accidental deaths surge.Elon Musk’s reaction

Greece’s population is expected to decline significantly by 2050.

Greece’s population decline has reached alarming levels and it could become the first country in the world to suffer a “demographic collapse”, a new report says. This sparked a debate on social media, with billionaire Elon Musk joining in and voicing concerns. The report paints a dire picture, claiming that heart failure, strokes, blood clots and cancer among otherwise healthy young people are contributing to a spike in death rates in Greece. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called the prospect of demographic collapse a “ticking time bomb” and a “national threat.”

In response to the report, Musk posted on X, “Greece is one of dozens of countries experiencing population decline due to low birth rates.”

Greece is one of dozens of countries experiencing demographic collapse due to low birth rates https://t.co/2qFA087SLJ

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 15, 2024

Demographic collapse, also known as depopulation, is the sudden and irreversible decrease in the number of living people in a society.

“This is one of the most serious problems not only for Greece but for the entire European Union,” Greek Finance Minister Kostis Hatzidakis told Reuters last week, referring to Greece’s rapidly declining population . “This is our top priority … at all costs.”

According to the Greek National Institute of Statistics (also known as ELSTAT), the birth rate in Greece fell by 30% from 2011 to 2021, to below 84,000 births per year, which is lower than the death rate.

Al Jazeera said in a report that taking into account that each Greek pays an average of 5,758 euros ($6,125) in taxes and social security contributions, this would mean a loss of nearly 2 billion euros in state revenue per year in the long term.

Data further shows that by 2050, Greece’s population will decrease by more than 1 million. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the country will actually see only 1 birth for every 2 deaths in 2022.

According to ELSTAT, in 1932, there were more than 185,000 births and less than 118,000 deaths in Greece.

The OECD also predicts that Greece’s population will fall to just over 10 million by 2030, from 10.4 million last year.