Despite recent improvements in Greece’s labor market—including falling unemployment and successive increases to the minimum wage—the real economic situation for workers remains severely strained, according to new research by INE-GSEE, the research institute of Greece’s General Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE).
Wages Still Below Pre-Crisis Levels
The study shows that salaried employees continue to face significantly lower purchasing power compared to the pre-crisis period. Real disposable income has yet to recover to 2009 levels.
In 2025, the average annual nominal wage stood at €18,134—a 3.9% rise from 2024 and a 19.7% increase since 2019. Yet it remains 12% below the 2009 benchmark. Remarkably, it is still slightly lower than the average wage recorded in 2012, the year Greece hit the deepest point of its recession.
Real Wages Tell a Starker Story
The picture grows more concerning when adjusting for inflation. In 2025, the average real annual wage reached €14,998—up just 1.3% from 2024. But it remains 31% below 2009 levels and virtually unchanged since 2019. The recent inflation surge has effectively erased much of the nominal wage growth over the past several years. Compared to 2021—the year when sharp price increases began—the real average wage in 2025 is down by 1.3%.
Hourly Wages Follow the Same Trend
The average nominal hourly wage in 2025 was €9.60—higher than in 2019 but still below the 2009 level. In real terms, it amounts to only 73.5% of its pre-crisis value—underscoring the substantial erosion of workers’ earnings over the past decade and a half.
Biggest Losses in Services Sectors
Workers in low-knowledge-intensity service sectors saw their real hourly wages fall 31.3% compared to 2009. The decline is even steeper in high-knowledge-intensity services—down 42.4%. Particular attention is drawn to education and health care, sectors employing a large share of women. Together, these two fields account for over a quarter of all female wage earners in Greece—highlighting how gendered employment patterns compound wage inequality.
INE-GSEE Calls for Structural Reform
INE-GSEE stresses that recent one-off financial support measures have offered temporary relief—but not a sustainable solution to restoring workers’ purchasing power or reversing long-term income losses.