Greece is a services economy: the tertiary sector, led by tourism and shipping, produces almost 80% of value added. After the 2009-2018 debt crisis, the worst suffered by a European country in peacetime, the economy has returned to steady growth.
Crisis and recovery in one chart
Between 2008 and 2013 GDP fell by about a quarter. The recovery was slow and interrupted by the 2020 pandemic, but since 2021 growth has consistently outpaced the euro area average. The crisis story is told in the 2009-2012 crisis, Tsipras's 2015 and the European bailouts.
Public debt
Debt remains the highest in the EU relative to GDP, but is falling fast thanks to growth, inflation and primary budget surpluses. Most is owed to European public creditors at low rates and very long maturities, which makes it more sustainable than it looks. In 2023 rating agencies restored Greece to investment grade, lost in 2010, and the country has repaid part of its European loans early.
Key sectors
| Sector | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Tourism | Over €23 billion in foreign receipts in 2025; tens of millions of visitors a year |
| Shipping | Greek shipowners control the world's largest merchant fleet by tonnage |
| Agri-food | Olive oil, olives, feta, yoghurt, fruit, farmed fish, wine |
| Energy | Oil refining, liquefied natural gas, fast-growing solar and wind |
| Industry | Aluminium, cement, pharmaceuticals, food processing |
| Technology | Start-ups and development centres of global groups in Athens and Thessaloniki |
Piraeus, run since 2016 by China's COSCO group, is one of the Mediterranean's main container ports. Greece is also one of the world's top olive oil producers, especially from Crete and the Peloponnese.
EU funds
Through its Recovery and Resilience Plan "Greece 2.0", Greece receives about €36 billion in grants and loans from the Next Generation EU fund, for the green transition, digital public administration, infrastructure and reforms.
Open problems
- Wages and purchasing power: despite minimum wage rises, real incomes are still among the lowest in the EU, while food and housing prices have risen sharply.
- Housing: short-term tourist rentals and foreign investment have pushed up prices in Athens and on the islands.
- Demography: the population is shrinking and ageing, and tourism, farming and construction lack workers.
- Productivity and investment, still below the European average after a lost decade.
See also Greece in numbers and working in Greece.