In the late 1920s the population of the island had dropped to 3,000, while about 8,000 inhabitants lived abroad, predominantly in Australia, Egypt, Greece and the U.S. At that time the town had 730 inhabited houses, while 675 were already empty, and many ruined.
Alla fine del 1920 la popolazione dell'isola era scesa a 3.000 unità, mentre circa 8.000 abitanti emigrarono all'estero, prevalentemente in Australia, Egitto, Grecia e in America.