ELSTAT: 31,390 births in first half of 2026

According to figures from the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT), as reported on Friday, September 25, 2026 by SKAI, Alfavita and Capital.gr, the first and second quarters of 2026 recorded a total of 31,390 live births in Greece. Of this total, 16,135 were boys and 15,255 girls, according to the same figures. This is the number of births recorded in the first half of this year, an interim six-month period that precedes the final, annual recording by the Authority. The two quarters together provide the first overall picture of demographic movement in 2026, before the figures for the third and fourth quarters are added, which will complete the annual total.

Compared to the corresponding half-year of 2025, the number of births remained essentially at the same levels. As ELSTAT notes, according to SKAI, “the number of births remained almost unchanged.” The difference between the two years was merely 4 more births this year, as Alfavita reported, a deviation which against a total of 31,390 cases amounts essentially to zero change. In other words, the figures do not permit one to speak of either an increase or decrease in births at the national level; they describe stability, not a reversal of the previous trend. This is an indicator that has remained lower than the number of deaths for over a decade in the country, something which keeps the demographic issue open as an ongoing matter of public discussion, without however today’s figures adding any new element in this or the opposite direction.

The national total, however, masks variations at the regional level. According to ELSTAT figures as presented by Capital.gr, increases in births were recorded in 7 of the country’s 13 regions, while in the others the trend was downward. In Peloponnese births increased by 72, in Eastern Macedonia and Thrace by 50 and in Thessaly by 48. By contrast, Central Greece recorded the largest decline, with 103 fewer births, followed by Attica with 85 fewer and the North Aegean with 60 fewer. The remaining regions of the country are not mentioned by name in the reports with specific changes. The available figures are not accompanied by analysis of the causes of these local variations, nor are they connected by ELSTAT or the reports to any specific factor.

The above figures concern preliminary data for a half-year and not a full year, so they may be revised when ELSTAT completes and publishes the full annual recording, as usually happens with interim quarterly birth figures. The corresponding official ELSTAT press release page was not located during the preparation of this article, which is why the figures are presented as reported by the Press — SKAI, Alfavita and Capital.gr — which attributed them to the Authority. Until confirmation from a primary source, these figures should be read as an indicative, interim picture and not as a definitive annual report. More topics from current events can be found in the Greece section and in Society.