Greek Ghost Towns

Depopulation & urbanization stalk rural Greece.

Starting with the Greek economic crisis in 2009, a localized problem for people with broad access to Europe, the country has been skidding. Fully two thirds of the population now live in cities - Athens (4m), Thessaloniki (1m), and and at a distant third Patras(0.25m). All of the urban locations show increased population of 25% or more since the 1990s, but overall the country’s population has been declining since 2015. Much like my home in rural Iowa since I was a child, people are leaving, and not coming back.

Greek fertility is 1.264 - with 2.1 needed to maintain a stable population. The United States was doing the best among industrialized nations, with a fertility of 1.6, and a vigorous immigration flow. The fertility rate began to skew to urban areas with the moves against women’s reproductive health care, and the U.S. as an immigration destination is going to implode a little more than a month from now.

The U.S. has been a beacon of stability since the end of World War II. We’re about to throw that all away, so it’s useful to study these reports to get a sense of what is coming.