Greece’s birth rate has plummeted by 30% since entering its first bailout agreement with international creditors in 2010, according to the country’s national statistical service (EL.STAT).
“The financial crisis has reduced birth rates by 30%,” Ekaterini Stipsanelli, a doctor at Alexandra hospital, told Efimerida ton Syntakton newspaper (link in Greek).
“Some women are unable to have children, others are forced to have abortions even though they much would like to have a child, but it seems a mountain for them to raise them ,” she said, adding that even an abortion costs €300 for uninsured women, “so they resort to medications to halt a pregnancy without medical observation”.
2013 was the year that showed the greatest drop, down 6.21% compared to 2013.