English

Probability and statistics in Greece

History and Overview 2026-07-08 v1

Abstract

Official statistics in Greece started as early as 1828 with the first Census. A department of statistics was established in 1861, and the General Statistical Service of Greece was founded in 1925. It was reformed to become the National Statistical Service of Greece in 1953, which was then replaced by the independent Hellenic Statistical Authority in 2010. The science of probability and statistics was essentially introduced in the late 1960s and before 1982. Seven chairs, plus were established in probability and statistics, albeit with various names, at the four Greek universities and ASOEE, which existed then, and six aspirants were elected to the post of professor of the respective chair. Since 1982, when the law abolished the archaic system of chairs, more than 200 PhD holders in probability and statistics or related subjects have been elected or promoted to the new ranks of professor, associate professor, and assistant professor at the 25 public Greek universities, which exist today. Several of these professors or associate professors have been elected to the post of Rector or Vice Rector. Now, probability and statistics, as well as related subjects, are very well treated in Greece. Today, the Greek contribution to these specialties is internationally recognized

Cite

@article{arxiv.2607.07147,
  title  = {Probability and statistics in Greece},
  author = {Andreas N. Philippou and Apostolos Kasapis and Alex Karagrigoriou},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2607.07147},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

6 pages, based on an invited talk given at Rallion to the StatMOD2025 Conference, University of Piraeus, Greece