Eligible families in Kilkis will receive €1,000 ($1,120) for each child born from Jan. 1, 2027, under a municipal program announced Oct. 20 to support new parents.
The northern Greek municipality said the payment will go to permanent residents registered locally, including married couples, couples in civil partnerships and single-parent families. There is no income limit for the grant.
The council approved the measure unanimously on Oct. 16, according to the municipality’s Oct. 20 announcement. Officials described it as an effort to help parents with early expenses and respond to low birthrates and an aging population.
Who can apply for the Kilkis grant
Applicants will submit their request to the municipality’s general registry, with identification, a family-status certificate, the child’s birth record and proof of permanent residence. Payment follows a review of eligibility.
The municipality says the grant will be tax-free and excluded from income calculations for other social benefits.
The package also includes two years without municipal service charges for families having a child from Jan. 1, 2027. Birth-grant recipients with family income of up to €35,000 will also qualify for relief from municipal nursery and preschool fees.
Greece’s birthrate challenge
The Kilkis initiative comes as Greece continues to record substantially more deaths than births.
Figures released by the Hellenic Statistical Authority on Oct. 1 put live births at 65,618 in 2025, down 4.2% from 68,467 in 2024. There were 121,841 deaths last year.
That left deaths exceeding births by 56,223. The difference describes natural population change; it does not account for people moving into or out of Greece.
More recent provisional figures offer a different year-to-year picture. Greece recorded 31,390 live births in the first six months of 2026, compared with 31,386 in the same period a year earlier, ELSTAT reported on Sept. 24.
The local payment sits alongside Greece’s wider financial support for parents. According to OPEKA, the national birth allowance ranges from €2,400 to €3,500, depending on the number of dependent children after a birth, and has separate eligibility rules.
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