Foreign direct investment into Greece reached $12.8 billion in 2025, a 69 percent increase from 2024 and more than 50 percent higher than 2022 levels, according to data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), bucking a broader decline across the European Union, where FDI fell 6 percent over the same period.

Global foreign direct investment rose 15 percent in 2025 to $1.66 trillion, though the underlying increase was closer to 6 percent when large swings in certain European economies are excluded.

Equity acquisitions accounted for $10.5 billion, or approximately 82 percent of total inflows. Reinvested earnings contributed a further $2 billion, or 15.5 percent, while intra-company loans from parent firms accounted for just $321 million, or 2.5 percent.

Services Dominate, Real Estate and Finance Lead

Investment was concentrated in the services sector, which accounted for between 59 and 85 percent of total FDI in the 2022-2024 period.

Manufacturing represents between 7 and 19 percent. Financial and insurance activities attracted over $2.5 billion in both 2022 and 2024, while real estate investment rose from $973 million in 2022 to $2.1 billion in 2024. The information and communications technology sector drew between $320 million and $500 million annually over the three-year period.

In manufacturing, the food sector and the metals and machinery sector each attracted $206 million in 2024.

Stock of FDI Doubles From 2018

The accumulated stock of foreign investment in Greece stood at approximately $72 billion in 2024, equivalent to 28 percent of GDP — double the 2018 level of $35.7 billion and triple the 2016 figure of $24.6 billion. Greece’s FDI stock nonetheless remains comparatively low by international standards, according to the state news agency ANA-MPA. Among OECD and G20 members, Luxembourg led with FDI stock equivalent to 300 percent of GDP, followed by the Netherlands and Ireland, both above 200 percent.

The rate of return on FDI in Greece exceeded 6 percent in 2023, broadly in line with returns recorded in the United Kingdom, Germany, and France.