“More than half of the children born today will reach 100 years of life”, said Kyriakos Pierrakakis, Greece’s Minister of Economy and Finance, during his speech delivered at the international conference Economics of Longevity and Ageing, which is being held on 17 and 18 June in Athens.

Pierrakakis described this demographic shift as a “revolution of longevity“, which he said structurally affects the economy. He linked it to the fourth industrial revolution, noting that these two forces “will profoundly change the way we operate in the 21st century.”

He described the demographic issue as “existential”, stressing that the central question is whether we will see longevity as an opportunity and adjust economic policy accordingly. He expressed the conviction that Greece can play a leading role in this new era.

As he said, “I believe that our country can play an important role in this process,” he said, recalling that “important parameters of pension policy have already changed – especially during the memoranda – and we have changed policies with our government that allow pensioners to work more years.”

The minister also spoke about the new reality of the life model, saying the education-work-retirement triad is changing. The post-war model, based on low life expectancy and stable careers, no longer meets modern needs. “We are now in the age of reskilling – you are likely to change careers one or more times in your lifetime, he noted.

Pierrakakis emphasized the younger generation, noting that children born today will need to think and work differently: to collaborate, to present their work, to think algorithmically, and to be willing to redefine their role throughout their lives.

According to Pierrakakis, this shift affects “every policy area, how we understand and how we change the dynamics of our economy’s growth.” He cited education policy as examples, such as the establishment of non-state non-profit universities and the strengthening of extramuralism.

He also cited the examples of Spain and Portugal, saying that “we can have a coherent strategy, it is a national priority for us and plays an important role in the economic revitalization of the country and adaptation to modern needs.”

The conference is an initiative of the Centre for Economic Policy Research – Research Policy Network on Ageing and Longevity, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Centre for Population Dynamics in Crete, the Ellison Institute of Technology Oxford and the Delphi Economic Forum and is kindly supported by the Bank of Greece and the Region of Attica.