Greece recorded fewer than 66,000 births in 2025, extending a sustained demographic decline as official data released by the Hellenic Statistical Authority showed mothers having children later than ever and only one region in the country managing to buck the downward trend.
Total live births fell to 65,594 — 33,620 boys and 31,974 girls — down 2,873 from 68,467 in 2024, a 4.2 percent year-on-year decline.
Stillbirths also fell, dropping 7.5 percent to 420 from 454 the previous year.
The steepest monthly declines came in November, down 10.4 percent, and January, down 10 percent, while September and May registered modest gains of 3 percent and 2.9 percent respectively.
The data reveals a profound shift in maternal age. Compared with 2015, births among women aged 30 to 34 fell by 12,356. Measured against 2005, births among women aged 25 to 29 dropped by 20,775.
At the other end of the scale, births to women aged 40 to 44 rose by 1,031 compared with 2015 and by 2,955 compared with 2005, confirming a steady, long-term shift toward later motherhood.
The ratio of births to Greek-citizen mothers versus foreign-born mothers widened to 8.9 to 1 in 2025, up from 6.7 to 1 in 2015 and 5.1 to 1 in 2005.
Geographically, births declined in 12 of Greece's 13 administrative regions, with the steepest drops recorded in Attica, down 1,007, Central Macedonia, down 656, and the Peloponnese, down 273.
Crete was the only region to register a positive result, standing alone against a national trend that continues to deepen concerns about the country's long-term demographic trajectory.