Aging dents competitiveness

Greece is the only country among 81 states that is expected to have reduced spending on its aging population by 2060, which shows that the social security reform during the fiscal streamlining decade will bear fruit in the long run. On its own, however, it is not enough.

This is because the evidence does not show that the reduction in spending on the aging population is associated with an increase in the population and therefore an increase in people who will be of working age.

In Greece, the population is expected to have decreased to 9 million people by 2060 from 10.43 million people in 2021, according to the Hellenic Statistical Authority's (ELSTAT) official census, and the elderly dependency ratio will have shot up to 67.3, meaning that more than one adult (1.48 to be precise) of working age 20-64 will account for each retired person aged 65 and over in the...