According to the last population census conducted in 2021, Greece counts 10 482 487 human inhabitants of which 51 % are female (Elstat, 2021). With 254 595 inhabitants, Western Macedonia, the third less populated region of Greece, represents 2,4 % of its population. Women, who account for 50,16 % of Western Macedonia’s inhabitants, are slightly under-represented compared to the national average.
The evolution of the regional demographics follows the evolution of the lignite-fired electricity production which has developed as an economic mono-culture. Indeed, the pic of the population happened in 2001 with 294 317 inhabitants at a period where the production was growing fast, to reach its all-time high in 2004 with 72 megatons of lignite extracted that year (Eurostat, 2023).
Though, this demographic pic is mainly explained by the economic growth of the previous decades. Indeed, the age pyramid of 2001 shows that the working-age generation is the most numerous with 40.5 % of the population between 25 and 55 years old (Elstat, 2001). This generation dynamism is also reflected in the importance of the generation of its children (30 % of the population).
At the same time, however, employment in the energy sector started to shrink. Indeed, to conform with European Union’s integration imperatives, PPC launched its privatization process, becoming a Societe Anonyme in 2001. The former public institution responsible for providing jobs in the region reorganized its workforce aiming at reducing costs and maximizing profits (Vetta, 2020, p.28). From approximatively 9000 regular workers in 1997, we passed to 6000 in 2005 and to 4000 in 2012 (Vetta, 2020, p.29). If technological innovation also played a role, Adonis Agelopoulos1, a former engineer explains, employment was mainly affected by the privatization of PPC :
“Until recently, technological changes were very slow and concerned relatively few people within specific sectors. For instance, electronics were surely affected by digitalisation. For the rest, changes were slow and very extensive. It was mainly changes of scales : we started with several units producing something like 70 megawatts to one unit producing up to 600 megawatts. (…) In lignite production, we didn’t have the same situation than in other industries where mechanization led to people loosing their jobs. In our sector, this was mainly due to political decisions that started to be taken in the 1990’s.”
PPC’s privatization process has led to significant biographical breaks, which can be seen in the interviews when participants talk about their career paths, those of their children and the decline of their cities. The reduction of employment possibilities in a regional economy largely dominated by the energy sector has plunged the age-working generation in a very precarious situation. Many people have chosen to migrate to other cities or countries with better opportunities. Since 2001, the population has diminished by 13.5 %, most of it happening after the economic crisis of 2011 (10.3%) (Krommyda, 2024, p.179). In 2021, the age pyramid shows a greater percentage of people over 60 years old : they represent 32.7 % of Western Macedonia’s population (29.4 % nationally – Elstat, 2021). Even though Europe’s population is ageing, the phenomenon is more intense in Western Macedonia where the old-age dependency ratio reaches 39.6 % (i.e. for one hundred people at working-age, there are 40 pensioners – 32 % average in the European Union). And it is accelerating fast since, in 2018, the WorldBank report was evaluating the old-age dependency in Western Macedonia at 37 % (Christiaensen and Ferré, 2018, p.8).
1All names have been modified to preserve participants’ anonymity.
Sources
Elstat, Population Census, 2001. URL : Μ02. Μόνιμος πληθυσμός κατά φύλο και ομάδες ηλικιών. Σύνολο Ελλάδος, Γεωγραφικές ζώνες ( NUTS I), περιφέρειες ( NUTS II ), νομοί, δήμοι-κοινότητες και δημοτικά-κοινοτικά διαμερίσματα
Elstat, Population Census, 2021. URL : Α03. Μόνιμος Πληθυσμός κατά φύλο, ομάδες ηλικιών και επίπεδο εκπαίδευσης. Περιφέρειες
Eurostat, Production of lignite in the EU – statistics, 2023. URL : https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Production_of_lignite_in_the_EU_-_statistics
Vasiliki Krommyda, Εργασία και ενεργειακή μετάβαση. Μεταβαλλόμενες γεωγραφίες εργασιακής επισφάλειας και απολιγνιτοποίηση στην Περιφέρεια Δυτικής Μακεδονίας, Phd thesis in Geography and Regional Planning, Athens, National Technical University of Athens, 2024.
Theodora Vetta, “Bondage unemployment and intra-class tensions in Greek energy restructuring”, in Susana Narotzky (ed.), Grassroots Economies: Living with Austerity in Southern Europe, London, Pluto Press, 2020.
Luc Christiaensen and Céline Ferré, Just Coal Transition in Western Macedonia, Greece – Insights from the Labour Market, World Bank, October 2020.