How purchasing power changed in Greece in 10 years, and how it compares with Europe

Published 27 October 2026 · Data: Eurostat and the PayAbacus calculator

Between 2015 and 2025 prices in Greece rose by 22.8%. Pay rose faster for people on the minimum wage, while for the average worker the gains came mostly after 2023. Greece still has one of the lower levels of purchasing power in the EU. Here is what the official figures show.

1. The minimum wage: up by half, a fifth more after inflation

The gross minimum wage stayed at €586 a month (14 payments a year) from 2015 to 2018. It then rose in steps to €880 in 2025 and €920 in 2026. Using the PayAbacus calculator with each year’s tax scale and EFKA rates, a single worker on the minimum wage took home €578 a month on average in 2015 (yearly net ÷ 12) and €867 in 2025: +50.1%.

Prices rose by 22.8% over the same years, most of it in 2022–2023. After inflation, the net minimum wage buys 22.2% more than in 2015. In 2026 it is €911 a month net; its real value will be known when the 2026 inflation figure is published.

2. The average worker: flat until 2023, then rising

Eurostat publishes the yearly net pay of a single worker earning the average wage. In Greece it fell from €18,567 in 2010 to €15,602 in 2015 as wages were cut during the crisis, and it was €18,022 in 2023. After inflation, the average worker’s net pay in 2023 was 0.3% lower than in 2015 and 16.7% lower than in 2010.

In 2024 and 2025 it rose to €21,498, +12.5% after inflation. Part of that rise comes from a change in how Eurostat measures the average wage from 2024 (a break in the series, marked on the chart), so the years before and after 2024 should not be compared exactly.

3. Compared with Europe: the east caught up, Greece stood still

From 2015 to 2023, the years Eurostat measured the same way, the average worker’s real net pay changed by +2.0% across the EU. Greece, at −0.3%, was 22nd of the 26 countries with data. The biggest gains were in Bulgaria, Lithuania and Romania, where wages started from much lower levels.

4. Where Greece stands in 2025

To compare countries, Eurostat converts net pay into purchasing power standards (PPS), an artificial currency that buys the same basket of goods everywhere. In 2025 the average Greek worker’s net pay was 25,011 PPS, 85% of the EU average (29,350 PPS), 17th of 27. In 2015 Greece was 14th of 26 at 83% of the EU average. Since then Slovenia and Poland have moved ahead of it.

5. Minimum wages across Europe

21 EU countries had a statutory minimum wage in both 2015 and 2025. After inflation, the Greek one rose 18.8% from 2015 to 2025 (gross, yearly average), 15th of 21. That is a little less than in section 1 because Eurostat averages the January and July rates, while section 1 applies each year’s new rate to the whole year. In purchasing power it is 14th of 21 in 2026 (July): 1,229 PPS a month, against 2,164 in Germany and 1,556 in Spain.

What it means for your salary

Between 2015 and 2025 a salary had to rise by 22.8% just to keep up with prices in Greece. If yours rose less, you can buy less than in 2015, even if the amount on your payslip is higher. Taxes matter too: the calculator applies each year’s tax scale and contributions, so you can see how much of a raise you actually kept.

Method and sources

• Net minimum wage: worked out with the PayAbacus calculator for a single employee aged 30 without children, with each year’s income tax scale and EFKA rates. The minimum wage set in each year (Ministry of Labour) is applied to the whole year, so years with an April rise are slightly overstated.
• Average worker: Eurostat, annual net earnings (earn_nt_net), single person without children earning 100% of the average wage. Eurostat marks 2024 as a break in the series.
• Inflation: Eurostat, harmonised index of consumer prices (prc_hicp_aind, annual average rate of change, all items). “Real” values are in euros of 2025.
• Minimum wages: Eurostat, monthly minimum wages (earn_mw_cur), in euros and in purchasing power standards.
• Eurostat data last updated: net earnings 2026-10-19, inflation 2026-02-06, minimum wages 2026-07-31. Eurostat data are reused with acknowledgement of the source (Commission Decision 2011/833/EU).
• These are averages and examples, not advice. Your own situation depends on your pay, family and the year’s rules: use the calculators to check it.