8 Billion Lives
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Where you could be born / Europe / Southern Europe

Born in Greece

About 1 in 1,793 people born in 2023 started life in Greece. A boy can expect to live 79 years and a girl 84, up from 64 and 68 in 1950. Most people live in cities, and nearly everyone has basic drinking water.

1 in 1,793
odds of being born here
73,700 births · Ranked 118th of 230
79 / 84
years of life, boys / girls
Was 64 / 68 in 1950
$12,498
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 72nd of 203 · extrapolated
79%
live in a city
The rest live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 16 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 60 in every 1,000 births to 3.8.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

0255075100195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
020406080195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth79.3 years for boys, 84.3 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 53.8 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year127,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people6.6World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles91%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV0.3%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year6 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 2.6 children on average in 1950. Now it is 1.3, below the 2.1 it takes to keep a population steady.

Children per woman
0123195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman1.33UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth32.0 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 41 and the poorest fifth 7.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2023
7%Poorest fifth
13%Second
17%Middle
23%Fourth
41%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $12,498 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth41% / 7% (2023)World Bank PIP
Unemployment11.0% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises3.5% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person2.4% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming12% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed30% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment105% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Athens, with 664,046 people.

79%
live in cities
100%
have electricity at home
100%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Athens664,046
Thessaloníki317,778
Pátra168,034
Piraeus163,688
Lárisa146,926
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Greek99%
English51%
French7%
German5%
Pontic4%
Greek is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Attica3.4 million
Central Macedonia1.1 million
Thessaly359,300
West Greece274,517
East Macedonia and Thrace261,902
Crete223,532
Central Greece165,033
Peloponnese149,285
Epirus104,752
West Macedonia84,212

Sourced: GeoNames Population of each state, province or region.

All 13 regions
  • Attica3.4 million
  • Central Macedonia1.1 million
  • Thessaly359,300
  • West Greece274,517
  • East Macedonia and Thrace261,902
  • Crete223,532
  • Central Greece165,033
  • Peloponnese149,285
  • Epirus104,752
  • West Macedonia84,212
  • South Aegean75,372
  • North Aegean52,275
  • Ionian Islands40,047

People on the move

About 7.8% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are Germany, United States, Australia.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
Germany242,582
United States130,822
Australia89,351
Residents born abroad14.2% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 7.8% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostGermany (242,582), United States (130,822), Australia (89,351)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $582.9 million a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

99% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 22%.

99%
of older people receive a pension (2020)
22%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2023)

Events in the data

The game draws real events from these records, so a life lived here can meet them.

Reported COVID-19 deaths, 2020 to 202439,258Our World in Data, from WHO
Significant earthquakes recorded since 195035; the deadliest, in 1953, killed about 476 people (magnitude 7.2)NOAA NCEI

Now live it.

Born in Greece, to a family drawn from these numbers. Every life replays exactly from its seed.

Be born in Greece

Elsewhere in Europe

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How to read the sources. Every figure is sourced to a named dataset, shown beside it. A figure marked "Extrapolated" is estimated by a model because no survey covers the year. UN figures are for 2023, the latest year of UN estimates; other figures are the latest year their dataset has. Rank 1 is the highest figure among 230 countries and territories. All sources and licences