Μake us preferred on Google The rising cost of living is often cited as Greece’s most pressing economic challenge. Yet the debate extends beyond soaring prices for goods and services. Equally significant is the country’s persistently low wage level, which has failed to keep pace with the real increase in living costs. In practice, much of the affordability crisis stems from the fact that nominal wage increases have lagged well behind inflation and the rising cost of everyday life.
The minimum wage offers a telling example. The government has highlighted its increase to 920 euros per month, placing the country in the middle tier of European countries based on nominal minimum wages, according to Eurostat. The country ranks below high-wage economies such as Luxembourg, Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France, but above Malta, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Latvia and Bulgaria.
However, the picture tells another story when wages are measured in purchasing power standards (PPS), which account for differences in living costs. By that measure, Greece ranks 14th among the 22 European countries with a statutory minimum wage, while Poland, Portugal, Croatia, Lithuania and Romania all offer higher minimum wages in terms of purchasing power.
Eurostat data also show that the minimum wage exceeds 60% of the country’s median gross wage. While this could, in theory, suggest a relatively strong minimum wage, it instead reflects a compressed wage structure. A large share of workers earn low or middle incomes, keeping the median wage low and narrowing the gap between median and minimum pay.
Other indicators reinforce the trend. According to the latest report by the Institute of Labor of INE-GSEE, the country’s average annual nominal wage remained 12% lower in 2025 than it was in 2009. In real terms, after accounting for inflation, average wages were still 31% below their 2009 level.
Workers also face challenges beyond low pay. A recent Eurofound study found that the share of vulnerable workers in Greece increased from 12.6% in 2009 to 18.6% in 2021. A defining feature of labor vulnerability is that, more than in any other European country, it is driven by weak workplace rights and protections.
Together, these figures paint a picture of a labor market marked by wages that remain below both the European average and their pre-crisis levels, among the weakest purchasing power in Europe, and limited labor protections.
Critics argue that this reflects a long-term devaluation of labor, with work increasingly treated as a cost rather than an investment. They contend that successive governments have pursued a low-labor-cost model as a development strategy, relying on restrained wages and weaker worker protections to attract investment.
Yet this approach has produced limited results, they say, noting that investment across Europe increasingly flows to countries offering higher real wages, stronger labor rights and better working conditions, arguing that in the long run labor should be viewed as a productive asset deserving investment rather than merely a business expense.
