Greece's resident population has dropped by 3.5 percent since 2011 according to a census carried out by national statistical office Elstat published Tuesday.

According to data amassed over the past year the resident population was 10,432,481 -- 3.5 percent lower than the 10,815,197 recorded by the last census in 2011.

For the first time Elstat -- which found that 51.4 percent of residents are women and 48.6 percent are men -- carried out some of its research online owing to Covid-related restrictions.

The Attica region encompassing the capital Athens is home to 3,792,469 people -- more than a third of the population.

The overall drop is in part down to a fall in birth rates during the 2010-2018 financial crisis which hammered the country's economy. They fell back from 1.5 children per woman in 2012 to 1.3 in 2019, Elstat found.

A fertility rate of 2.1 is required to maintain a stable population.

Higher education authorities say some 450,000 Greeks aged under 40 headed abroad to find work during the economic slump which saw unemployment among young adults soar.

That emigratory wave contributed to the drop in overall resident population.

To encourage families to have children and stem the ageing of the population, the current conservative government in 2020 brought in a 2,000-euro ($2,000) baby bonus for each child.

mr/cdw/lcm