World News for Students of English

15-09-2025 15:00

Greece is in trouble because people are not having enough babies.

In 2022, fewer than 77,000 babies were born, while 140,000 people died. Experts say the population could shrink by 25% by 2070. Women now have their first child at age 32, and the fertility rate is only 1.35, one of the lowest in Europe. Because there are fewer children, more than 750 schools, about 5%, are closing. In the last seven years, the number of primary students has dropped by 19%.

This is not only a Greek problem. Japan, South Korea, and many other countries also face falling birth rates. The main reasons are high costs of living, missing childcare, and expensive housing. Experts say that without better support, people will keep having children later and later.

Difficult words: fertility rate (an average number of children per woman), primary student (a child who is 4 to 10 years old), birth rate (the number of children born per thousand of population in one year).

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