Celebrating Saint Valentine’s Day the Greek Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) posted on its X (formerly twitter) account demographic data, regarding births, deaths, marriages, civil unions, and divorces on Friday, February 14 . Derived from official registry records maintained by municipal authorities and entered into the Ministry of the Interior’s information system the data refers to 2023.

Marriages and Civil Unions

A total of 40,351 marriages took place in Greece in 2023, comprising 21,402 religious ceremonies and 18,949 civil marriages. This represents a 6.9% decline compared to the 43,355 marriages recorded in 2022 (21,381 religious and 21,974 civil).

In contrast, civil unions saw a sharp rise, reaching 15,069 in 2023, a 17.4% increase from 12,840 in 2022. Among these, 262 unions were between men, and 121 between women.

Divorces on the Rise

The number of divorces increased by 4.4%, totaling 15,114 in 2023, compared to 14,477 in 2022.
Of the divorces issued in 2023:

• 80.8% (12,214 cases) were mutual consent divorces.

• 13.5% (2,044 cases) were contested divorces.

• 5.7% (856 cases) had no specified type.

Most divorces in 2023 involved men aged 45-49 (20.1%) and women aged 40-44 (21.3%). Additionally, 66.1% of divorces concerned marriages lasting 10 years or more (9,990 cases).

The divorce-to-marriage ratio stood at 37.5 divorces per 100 marriages in 2023, compared to 33.4 in 2022, 34.2 in 2021, 41.2 in 2020, and 32.1 in 2019.

Births and Infant Mortality

In 2023, Greece recorded 71,455 births, marking a 6.1% decrease from 2022, when 76,095 births were registered. The figure does not include stillbirths, which totaled 432 in 2023—3.1% lower than the 446 recorded in 2022.

Mortality Trends

The total number of deaths in 2023 stood at 128,101 (64,898 men and 63,203 women), reflecting a 9.0% decline from 2022, when deaths numbered 140,801 (70,802 men and 69,999 women).
However, infant deaths (under one year of age) increased to 248, raising the infant mortality rate from 3.1 per 1,000 live births in 2022 to 3.5 in 2023.

Feature Photo Credit: ELSTAT