Demographics of Greece

The Demographics of Greece tell us about the people who live in the country. Greece has many people, with the latest numbers showing about 10,372,335 people living there in 2025. This information helps us understand how many families, children, and grown-ups make up the country. The government in Greece did a big count of all the people, called a census, in 2021, to get accurate numbers and learn more about the community.

Historical overview

Greece has been home to people since very ancient times, starting in the Paleolithic period. The Greek language became the main language, and many small city-states developed, sharing similar cultures.

Over time, many different groups, such as the Goths, Avars, Slavs, and Ottoman Turks, came and changed life in Greece. Some groups, like the Slavs, settled in places such as the Peloponnese and Thessaly. Later, many Greeks moved to other countries or to safer, mountainous areas to escape foreign rule. In the early 1900s, many Greeks returned to their country after moving from places like Bulgaria and Turkey.

The population of Greece grew over the years, except during World War II. After that, the population kept increasing, helped by people moving into the country and Greeks returning from other places. But in the 2010s, the population began to fall because of economic problems and an aging population. Recently, the population decrease has slowed because of new people coming to live in Greece.

Recent Demographics

Population

Main article: Demographic history of Greece

Greece's population was estimated to be 10,372,335 in 2025. The latest census was conducted in 2021.

Greece is divided into nine geographic regions. The population of each region has changed over time, with the latest estimates available.

The total fertility rate is the number of children born per woman, and it has been tracked over many years.

Greece's population is aging, with a growing percentage of elderly people. In 1961, about 10.9% of the population was above age 65, but by 2011, this percentage had risen to 19.0%. Meanwhile, the percentage of children aged 0–14 decreased from 1961 to 2011.

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
−1500	1,500,000	—
−400	20,000,000	+0.24%
600	10,000,000	−0.07%
1600	700,000	−0.27%
1800	2,500,000	+0.64%
1928	6,204,684	+0.71%
1940	7,344,860	+1.42%
1951	7,632,801	+0.35%
1961	8,398,050	+0.96%
1971	8,831,036	+0.50%
1981	9,729,350	+0.97%
1991	10,258,364	+0.53%
2001	10,934,097	+0.64%
2011	10,816,286	−0.11%
2021	10,482,487	−0.31%
Source: Hellenic Statistical Authority

Census	Population	Change
1971	8,768,372	–
1981	9,739,589	11.1%
1991	10,259,900	5.3%
2001	10,964,020	6.9%
2011	10,816,286	−0.88%
2021	10,482,487	−3.1%

Region	Population (1971)	Population (1981)	Population (1991)	Population (2001)	Population (2011)	Population (2021)	Population (2025)
Aegean Islands	417,813	428,030	456,555	508,807	508,246	522,763	534,963
Central Greece	3,532,248	4,125,463	4,366,900	4,591,568	4,586,626	4,514,663	4,455,160
Crete	456,642	501.909	536,433	601,131	623,065	624,408	621,121
Epirus	310,334	323.871	327,176	353,822	336,856	319,991	324,061
Ionian Islands	184,443	182.327	189,338	212,984	207,855	204,532	198,421
Macedonia	1,890,684	2,116,361	2,225,690	2,424,765	2,402,771	2,266,206	2,229,959
Peloponnese	986,912	1,014,485	1,045,020	1,155,019	1,046,897	995,410	981,399
Thessaly	659,913	695,724	729,268	753,888	732,762	688,255	676,040
Thrace	329,582	341,180	340,755	362,038	371,208	346,259	351,211
Total	8,768,372	9,729,350	10,223,392	10,964,020	10,816,286	10,482,487	10,372,335

Years	1850	1851	1852	1853	1854	1855	1856	1857	1858	1859	1860
Total fertility rate in Greece	6.03	5.81	5.59	5.36	5.14	4.92	4.7	4.47	4.25	4.03	3.81

Years	1861	1862	1863	1864	1865	1866	1867	1868	1869	1870
Total fertility rate in Greece	3.95	3.87	3.78	3.94	3.73	4.03	3.83	3.85	3.86	3.77

Years	1871	1872	1873	1874	1875	1876	1877	1878	1879	1880
Total fertility rate in Greece	3.81	3.83	3.7	3.91	3.78	3.97	3.82	3.64	3.32	3.27

Years	1881	1882	1883	1884	1885	1886	1887	1888	1889	1890
Total fertility rate in Greece	3.28	3.38	3.35	3.83	3.82	4.01	4.19	4.38	4.57	4.73

Years	1891	1892	1893	1894	1895	1896	1897	1898	1899	1900
Total fertility rate in Greece	4.8	4.88	4.95	5.03	5.1	5.18	5.25	5.32	5.4	5.47

Years	1901	1902	1903	1904	1905	1906	1907	1908	1909	1910
Total fertility rate in Greece	5.35	5.22	5.1	4.97	4.85	4.72	4.6	4.47	4.35	4.22

Years	1911	1912	1913	1914	1915	1916	1917	1918	1919	1920
Total fertility rate in Greece	4.09	3.97	3.84	3.72	3.59	3.47	3.34	3.22	3.09	2.97

Period	Life expectancy in Years	Period	Life expectancy in Years
1950–1955	65.8	1985–1990	75.6
1955–1960	67.2	1990–1995	77.4
1960–1965	69.3	1995–2000	78.1
1965–1970	70.1	2000–2005	79.1
1970–1975	71.8	2005–2010	80.0
1975–1980	72.8	2010–2015	80.6
1980–1985	74.5	2015–2020	81.2

Age group	1971		1981		1991		2001		2011		2021
Age group	Population	%	Population	%	Population	%	Population	%	Population	%	Population	%
0–14	2,223,904	25.4	2,307,297	23.7	1,974,867	19.2	1,664,085	15.2	1,576,500	14.4	1,510,736	14.1
15–64	5,587,352	63.7	6,192,751	63.6	6,880,681	67.1	7,468,395	68.1	7,122,830	66.6	6,760,040	63.3
65+	957,116	10.9	1,239,541	12.7	1,404,352	13.7	1,831,540	16.7	2,108,807	19.0	2,407,856	22.6
Total	8,768,372		9,739,589		10,259,900		10,964,020		10,816,286		10,678,632


Period	Live births	Deaths	Natural increase
January–April 2025	21,114	44,459	−23,345
January–April 2026	21,766	44,834	−23,068
Difference	+652 (+3.09%)	+375 (+0.84%)	+277
Source:

2013-2024
Regions	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
South Aegean	1.31	1.39	1.38	1.54	1.52	1.54	1.62	1.64	1.72	1.63	1.58	1.69
Crete	1.42	1.44	1.47	1.55	1.49	1.52	1.54	1.56	1.73	1.62	1.57	1.51
Ionian Islands	1.42	1.43	1.45	1.49	1.50	1.60	1.55	1.59	1.63	1.45	1.31	1.50
North Aegean	1.36	1.40	1.44	1.55	1.55 –	1.63	1.60	1.98	1.55	1.32	1.46	1.43
Peloponnisos	1.31	1.33	1.32	1.37	1.35	1.35 –	1.32	1.38	1.47	1.43	1.38	1.37
Western Greece	1.33	1.31	1.33	1.36	1.32	1.29	1.32	1.35	1.42	1.42	1.34	1.31
Thessaly	1.34	1.32	1.35	1.35 –	1.33	1.32	1.28	1.32	1.41	1.36	1.33	1.29
Eastern Macedonia and Thrace	1.38	1.35	1.40	1.41	1.42	1.32	1.30	1.34	1.44	1.35	1.29	1.29
Greece	1.29	1.30	1.33	1.38	1.35	1.35 –	1.34	1.39	1.43	1.32	1.26	1.24
Central Greece	1.25	1.24	1.23	1.30	1.24	1.23	1.12	1.24	1.34	1.37	1.24	1.22
Central Macedonia	1.30	1.27	1.31	1.36	1.34	1.28	1.27	1.30	1.34	1.25	1.18	1.19
Epirus	1.29	1.26	1.28	1.30	1.26	1.22	1.24	1.25	1.34	1.28	1.18	1.18
Western Macedonia	1.29	1.33	1.32	1.31	1.34	1.26	1.26 –	1.33	1.31	1.19	1.23	1.17
Attica	1.23	1.26	1.30	1.36	1.34	1.36	1.35	1.39	1.40	1.23	1.18	1.14

Age group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	5 303 223	5 513 063	10 816 286	100
0–4	274 788	262 455	537 243	4.97
5–9	262 432	250 164	512 596	4.74
10–14	265 787	253 642	519 429	4.80
15–19	286 386	266 890	553 276	5.12
20–24	325 127	301 970	627 097	5.80
25–29	371 617	352 154	723 771	6.69
30–34	417 861	404 614	822 475	7.60
35–39	409 681	403 148	812 829	7.51
40–44	414 026	418 640	832 666	7.70
45–49	367 086	381 343	748 429	6.92
50–54	355 552	375 934	731 486	6.76
55–59	321 466	338 902	660 368	6.11
60–64	301 589	324 180	625 769	5.79
65–69	241 832	266 444	508 276	4.70
70–74	246 264	295 901	542 165	5.01
75–79	209 983	265 094	475 077	4.39
80–84	146 455	205 918	352 373	3.26
85–89	60 933	98 908	159 841	1.48
90–94	18 760	34 685	53 445	0.49
95–99	4 948	10 239	15 187	0.14
100+	650	1 838	2 488	0.02
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	803 007	766 261	1 569 268	14.51
15–64	3 570 391	3 567 775	7 138 166	65.99
65+	929 825	1 179 027	2 108 852	19.50

Age group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	5 196 048	5 482 584	10 678 632	100
0–4	232 962	221 004	453 966	4.25
5–9	256 724	242 916	499 640	4.68
10–14	286 211	270 919	557 130	5.22
15–19	286 473	261 827	548 300	5.13
20–24	295 675	267 375	563 050	5.27
25–29	289 021	268 852	557 873	5.22
30–34	292 391	293 623	586 014	5.49
35–39	351 172	348 759	699 931	6.55
40–44	397 038	400 046	797 084	7.46
45–49	388 226	404 647	792 873	7.42
50–54	388 838	418 213	807 051	7.56
55–59	340 585	379 684	720 269	6.74
60–64	320 930	366 665	687 595	6.44
65–69	288 274	327 034	615 308	5.76
70–74	261 202	309 037	570 239	5.34
75–79	200 470	246 135	446 605	4.18
80–84	161 684	227 332	389 016	3.64
85–89	98 597	148 795	247 392	2.32
90–94	41 160	58 052	99 212	0.93
95–99	12 188	14 445	26 633	0.25
100–104	4 334	4 190	8 524	0.08
105–109	1 370	2 047	3 417	0.03
110+	523	987	1 510	0.01
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	775 897	734 839	1 510 736	14.15
15–64	3 350 349	3 409 691	6 760 040	63.30
65+	1 069 802	1 338 054	2 407 856	22.55

Other demographic statistics

Demographic statistics come from the CIA World Factbook.

Greece's population has changed over the years. In 2023, it was about 10.4 million people. In 2020, it was around 10.7 million, and in 2018, it was about 10.8 million.

People in Greece are spread out in different age groups. In 2020, about 14.5% of people were children aged 0 to 14 years. About 10.3% were young adults aged 15 to 24 years. The largest group, about 39.6%, were adults aged 25 to 54 years. About 13.1% were aged 55 to 64 years, and around 22.4% were 65 years and older.

Most people in Greece are Greek, making up about 91.6% of the population. A smaller group, about 4.4%, are Albanian, and the rest, about 4%, belong to other groups. These numbers are based on citizenship, as Greece does not collect data on ethnicity.

The country's population is mostly urban, with about 79.7% living in cities. The rate of people moving to cities has been about 0.22% each year from 2015 to 2020.

Immigration

Main article: Immigration to Greece

Greece has welcomed many people moving into the country since the early 1990s. Most of these newcomers come from countries close to Greece. By 2011, among around 10.8 million people living in Greece, about 911,000 were from other countries.

Many people have come to Greece without proper papers over the years. They travel through the many islands in the Aegean Sea, close to Turkey. Some areas near the border with Turkey can be dangerous because of land-mines. People coming to Greece without permission include those from Albania, Pakistan, and several other countries.

Foreign citizens in Greece in 1998 by country of citizenship.

Net Migration

Illegal immigration

Many people have come to Greece without permission since the 1990s, continuing through the 2000s and 2010s. They use the many islands in the Aegean Sea, which lie directly west of Turkey. A spokesperson for the European Union’s border control agency mentioned that the border between Greece and Albania is one of the most challenging in Europe. People crossing the Evros area, which borders Turkey, sometimes face danger from land-mines. The main groups of people coming to Greece without permission include those from Albania, Pakistan, Kurdish regions, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Somalia.

Country	2010	2014	2020 n-aEU	2020 EU	2021
Albania	384,600	337,719	346,918	—N/a	374,926
Bulgaria	45,700	40,914	—N/a	72,777	35,444
Pakistan	20,100	18,040	19,167	—N/a	35,309
Romania	32,400	27,191	—N/a	44,600	28,250
Georgia	62,600	45,061	23,050	—N/a	26,083
Bangladesh	14,200	8,362	included into others	—N/a	17,189
Ukraine	13,300	10,662	18,056	—N/a	16,408
Afghanistan			included into others	—N/a	15,457
United Kingdom	5,200	10,736	—N/a	14,752	13,517
Russia	55,700	42,959	14,772	—N/a	13,415
Egypt	10,200	9,813	11,652	—N/a	12,453
India			13,259	—N/a	12,385
Cyprus	10,200	10,881	—N/a	13,850	12,362
Syria	7,500	8,306	included into others	—N/a	10,785
Philippines			10,696	—N/a	10,585
Poland	10,800	16,635	—N/a	13,560	included into others
Germany	29,300	25,722	—N/a	10,336	included into others
China			19,814	—N/a	included into others
Turkey	9,500	12,469	included into others	—N/a	included into others
others	117,100	102,006	65,429	736,470	127,287
Total	828,400	727,477	524,813	906,345	761,855

Nationality of Greece over time
Nationality	1951		1961		1971		1981		1991		2001		2011		2021		2021 census
Nationality	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
Greeks	7,602,230	99.60%	8,333,817	99.35%	8,675,804	98.94%	9,568,017	98.24%	10,092,624	98.37%	10,166,927	92.73%	9,903,268	91.57%	9,777,439	91.34%	9,716,889	92.70%
Foreigners	30,571	0.40%	54,736	0.65%	92,568	1.06%	171,424	1.76%	167,276	1.63%	797,093	7.27%	911,929	8.43%	921,485	8.61%	761,855	7.27%
EU-27	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	199,101	1.84%	168,550	1.57%	116,669	1.11%
Non-EU															752,900	7.1%	641,921	6.12%
Total	7,632,801		8,388,553		8,768,372		9,739,441		10,259,900		10,964,020		10,815,197		10,698,837		10,482,487

Net Migration of Greece (1991–2023)
Year	Immigration	Emigration	Net Migration
1991	151,978	64,628	87,350
1992	110,334	52,389	57,945
1993	107,462	52,929	54,533
1994	86,959	46,813	40,146
1995	98,989	47,967	51,022
1996	95,585	54,628	40,957
1997	113,477	51,794	61,683
1998	116,411	60,119	56,292
1999	84,695	54,175	30,520
2000	109,251	46,993	62,258
2001	98,471	45,909	52,562
2002	67,220	39,378	27,842
2003	63,141	37,433	25,708
2004	66,871	38,041	28,830
2005	70,933	38,583	32,350
2006	63,094	38,368	24,726
2007	63,298	40,400	22,898
2008	66,529	43,044	23,485
2009	58,613	43,686	14,927
2010	60,462	62,041	−1,579
2011	60,089	92,404	−32,315
2012	58,200	124,694	−66,494
2013	57,946	117,094	−59,148
2014	59,013	106,804	−47,791
2015	64,446	109,351	−44,905
2016	116,867	106,535	10,332
2017	112,247	103,327	8,920
2018	119,489	103,049	16,440
2019	129,459	95,020	34,439
2020	84,221	77,837	6,384
2021	57,120	79,596	−22,476
2022	96,662	80,307	16,355
2023	118,816	76,158	42,658

Ethnic groups, languages and religion

Main articles: Minorities in Greece, Languages of Greece, and Religion in Greece

Ethnic map of Greece in 1918 during the Greek genocide.

The people of northern Greece come from many different backgrounds and speak many languages. The government of Greece officially recognizes one minority group: the Muslim minority, which includes Turks, Pomaks, and Romani people. There is no official information about other minority groups because the government stopped asking about these topics in surveys a long time ago.

Most people in Greece follow Eastern Orthodox Christianity, but there are also people who do not follow any religion, people who follow Islam, and a few other smaller groups. Greece's official language is Greek, but some people also speak other languages at home.

Greece's main religion is Eastern Orthodox Christianity. For many years, this church helped keep Greek traditions and language alive, even when Greece was ruled by others. There is also a Muslim minority in the area of Thrace, protected by an old agreement. Some people in Greece also follow other religions, like Judaism or older Greek beliefs.

**Estimated historical population and census figures**¹:
Language (and religion)	census 1879		estimate 1913		census 1928		census 1940		census 1951
Language (and religion)	Number	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
Greek				5,759,523	92.8	6,902,339	92.5	7,297,878	95.6
Turkish (altogether)				191,254	3.1	229,075	3.8	179,895	2.4
Turkish (and Orthodox Christian)				103,642	1.7
Turkish (and Muslim)				86,506	1.4
Slavic³		300,000–500,000	6.3–10.6	81,984²	1.3	86,086	1.2	41,017	0.5
Bulgarian (and Muslim)				16,775	0.3
Pomak						18,086	0.2	18,671	0.2
"Koutsovlach"				19,703	0.3	53,997	0.7	39,855	0.5
Albanian						49,632	0.7	22,736⁴	0.3
Albanian/Arvanitika	225,000
Albanian (and Muslim)				18,598	0.3
Armenian				33,634	0.5	26,827	0.4	8,990	0.1
Roma				4,998	0.1	8,141	0.1	7,429	0.1
Russian				3,295	0.1	8,126	0.1	3,815	0.1
French						4,518	0.1	2,101	0.0
Romanian						2,901	0.0	2,082	0.0
English				2,098	0.0	3,529	0.0	1,456	0.0
Spanish				63,200	1.0	53,125	0.7	1,339	0.0
German						3,401	0.0	1,301	0.0
Italian				3,199	0.1	4,426	0.1	894	0.0
Hebrew or Yiddish						34	0.0	853	0.0
Others				6,248	0.1	5,694	0.1	2,489	0.1
Total	1,679,775	4,734,990		6,204,684		7,344,860		7,632,801
Notes: ¹ Census figures are considered "unreliable". ²The 1928 census figure (81,984) of the Slavic speakers does not reflect their actual strength due to either an official policy or reluctance of the concerned, and perhaps represents a number of speakers, who are lacking Greek national consciousness, while contemporary Greek reports estimate at least 200,000 Bulgarian-speaking inhabitants in the country. ³ The Slavic figure in the 1928, 1940 and 1951 census is referred to as a Macedonian Bulgarian dialect or Macedonian Slavic. ⁴ The Albanian figure (22,746) in the 1951 census is considered "certainly too small" and a research in the 1970s indicated a figure of at least 30,000 in Attica and Boiotia alone.

Language	Classification	Speaking population	Spoken by	Ethnic population	Region
Greek classification
Cappadocian	IE, Greek, Attic	2,800 (2015 M. Janse)	Cappadocians		Mandra, Neo Agioneri and Xirochori
Cretan		600,000	Cretans		Crete
Greek	IE, Greek, Attic	10,700,000 (2012 European Commission )	national		scattered
Greek, Ancient	IE, Greek, Attic	no known L1 speakers			scattered
Pontic	IE, Greek, Attic	200,000 (2001 Johnstone and Mandryk) – 400,000 (2009 Z. Diakonikolaou)	Pontians		Macedonia and Epirus(Kilkis, Pella, and Serres; Thessaloniki, Drama and Imathia)
Romano-Greek	mixed Greek–Romani	30 (2000)	Romani		Thessaly, Central Greece
Sarakatsani	IE, Greek, Doric	80,000	Sarakatsani		Central Greece, Thessaly, Epirus
Tsakonian	IE, Greek, Doric	200 (2007 Salminen)–1,500 (2010 M. Kisilier)	Tsakonians		Agios Andreas, Leonidio, Prastos, Kastanitsa, Pramatefti, Sapounakeika, Sitena, and Tyros
Other languages
Albanian, Arvanitika	IE, Albanian, Tosk	50,000 (1993 Lunden, 2007 Salminen)	Arvanites	150,000	southern Euboea, Salamis, Boeotia, Attica, Peloponnese, Western Greece and the Ionian Islands, Thessaly and Central Greece, Thrace
Albanian, Tosk	IE, Albanian, Tosk	10,000 (2002)	Tosk Albanians		Epirus and Western Macedonia(Central Florina, into Kastoria, Lechovo)
Arabic	Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, Central, South	28,000	Arabs
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic	Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, Central, Aramaic, Eastern, Central, Northeastern	2,000	Assyrians
Armenian, Western	IE, Armenian	20,000 (2007)	Armenians		scattered, Attica, Thessaly and Central Greece
Aromanian	IE, Italic, Romance, Eastern	50,000 (1999 Salminen) – 200,000 (1995 Greek Monitor of Human and Minority Rights)	Aromanians	700,000 (Trâ Armânami Association of French Aromanians)	Pindus Mountains, around Trikala, Epirus, Thessaly, Macedonia
Bulgarian	IE, Balto-Slavic, Slavic, South, Eastern	56,200 (2014), 10–40,000 (Trudgill)	Pomaks, Bulgarians		Macedonia and Thrace
English	IE, Germanic, West	8,000
German	IE, Germanic, West	L1 users: 10,800 (2011 census), L2 users: 541,000 (2012 European Commission)
Greek sign language	Sign language	5,000 (2014 EUD) – 62,500 (2014 IMB)	national		scattered
Judeo-Italian	IE, Italic, Romance, Italo-Western, Italo-Dalmatian	50 (2007 Salminen)	Jews		Peloponnese, Western Greece and the Ionian Islands
Kurdish, Northern	IE, Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Iranian, Western, Northwestern, Kurdish	22,500	Kurds
Ladino	IE, Italic, Romance, Italo-Western, Western, Gallo-Iberian, Ibero-Romance, West Iberian, Castilian	2,000	Jews
Megleno-Romanian	IE, Italic, Romance, Eastern	3,000 (2002) – 12,000 (1995)	Megleno-Romanians		Moglena
Romani, Balkan	IE, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Intermediate Divisions, Western, Romani	40,000 (1996 B. Igla)	Romani		Attica; Macedonia, Peloponnese, Western Greece and the Ionian Islands, Epirus
Romani, Vlax	IE, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Intermediate Divisions, Western, Romani	1,000	Romani		Attica, Thessaly, Central Greece, Epirus, Western Macedonia
Russian	IE, Balto-Slavic, Slavic, East		Russians
Serbian	IE, Balto-Slavic, Slavic, South, Western		Serbs
Slavic	IE, Balto-Slavic, Slavic, South, Eastern	60–90,000 (Trudgill), 250,000 (2007 Boskov)	Slavic-speakers of Greek Macedonia		Macedonia (mainly Florina, Pella and Thessaloniki; Kastoria, Kozani, Kilkis, Imathia, Serres), Epirus (Ioannina)
Turkish	Turkic, Southern	40,000 (L1: 9,700, L2: 30,300, 2014)	Turks, Karamanlides, Pomaks		Macedonia and Thrace, Aegean
Turkish, Balkan Gagauz	Turkic, Southern		Gagauzes
Urum	Turkic		Urums

Religious population in Greece at the 1951 Census
Total	7,632,801
Orthodox	7,472,559 (97.9%)
Muslim	112,665 (1.4%)
Catholic	28,430 (0.4%)
Protestant and other Christian	12,677 (0.2%)
Jewish	6,325 (0.1%)

Education

Main article: Education in Greece

In Greece, school is free and required for children aged 5 to 15. Learning English is part of the school curriculum from the first grade all the way through high school. University education, including books, is also free, but students must meet tough entry requirements to join. Many students aim for higher education, with over 100,000 enrolled in Greek universities. About 15% of people in Greece have a university degree. Getting into a university depends on exams, school grades, and the student's chosen major. About one in four students who apply get into a Greek university.

Greek law does not officially recognize degrees from private universities in the country, unless the degree is valid in another European Union country. Because of this, many students are choosing to study in other countries. The Greek government decides which foreign university degrees are accepted for jobs in the public sector. Some students also attend private colleges in Greece that are not recognized by the government. There is growing discussion about changing the Constitution to treat private and public higher education the same.

More Greek students are studying in European institutions, supported by the EU. About 5,000 Greeks are studying in the United States, with almost half of them in graduate programs. Greece has one of the highest numbers of students per person studying in the US in Europe.