Birth rate in Cyprus is one of the lowest in Europe, President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides, stressed Sunday, adding that through interventions and a very specific plan, the government is working to address this major challenge.
Speaking at the official opening of the Souni-Zanakia Community Nursery, in the Limassol district, the President stressed that the Cyprus economy is good and thus it allows the state to return growth to the citizens.
"And to return growth back to the citizens, you must invest -it is an investment and not an expense- in three areas: Education, Health, Social Services".
"In our country, we are facing a very serious problem called demographic. The birth rate is 1.3%, one of the lowest in Europe, and we need at least 2.1% to have a population replenishment every 25 years", the President noted.
"To help families, especially in communities, we have an obligation to offer the same services in three areas", he said, adding that the first sector is Education, the second is Health and the third is the Welfare State.
“We fully understand our responsibility, our role and we are glad because through interventions, through a very specific plan, we are working together, so that we can face this great challenge,” he continued.
He spoke about the importance that the government attributes to the countryside and in particular to the strengthening of social care services.
The President noted that Cyprus has secured, together with European funds, an amount of 3.5 billion euros for projects, which will be decided by the Council of Ministers in September 2027 and urged communities to prepare projects so that they can be approved by the Cabinet.
