Statistical analysis of the immigration flow in Greece.

Abstract

The National Statistical Service of Greece has published statistical data about the migration flow in Greece from January 1968 till September 1977. An increasing trend of the immigration flow is observed, which overtook the corresponding emigration flow since 1974 and so became one of the main factors which have influenced the population development in Greece. Therefore it seems to be of great importance to analyse the immigration flow during that period in order to use the results of this analysis for a further investigation in the future. Examining the flow data, which provide regular and uninterrupted information on the immigration in Greece, we determine in this paper the basic characteristics of the immigrants, namely the volume and the variability of some components of the inflow and some other indicators, as for example the sex and age-ratio, and the activity rates. Furthermore, we find out that according to the push-pull theory, only two main factors, considered separately, have a statistically non-significant influence on the immigration flow, namely the index of unemployment in West Germany and the index of hourly income in Greece.