The rise is attributed to growing hospital demands caused by an increase in hospitalized patients requiring surgical procedures, as well as a higher volume of citizens visiting emergency departments.
Hospitals Recorded 12 Million Emergency and Outpatient Visits
It should be noted that these expenses do not include pharmaceutical costs, which, according to information, reached approximately €1.6 billion in public hospitals last year — calculated before the substantial rebates and clawbacks imposed on pharmaceutical companies — up from €1.5 billion in 2024.
Overall, however, the Greek state covers only around €650 million of hospital pharmaceutical costs, while the remaining amount is borne by pharmaceutical companies themselves.
As a result, the total cost of Greece’s National Health System (ESY) services appears to have reached approximately €3.1 billion.
It is also worth noting that 2025 saw a substantial rise in surgical procedures. According to data from Greece’s national healthcare provider, EOPYY, the ten most expensive categories of surgeries accounted for 142,000 procedures with reimbursement costs totaling €219 million.
What the Health Ministry Data Shows
According to the “Bi-Health Business Intelligence System” of Greece’s Health Ministry, total hospital spending across the country’s seven Health Regions reached €2.517 billion in 2025, compared to €2.324 billion in 2023, recording an increase of 6.8%.
These amounts include spending on materials and services, as well as certain payroll categories — though not core salaries.
According to the ministry’s data, hospital spending on raw and auxiliary materials — including medical supplies, orthopedic equipment, reagents and related products — climbed to €1.33 billion, up from €1.172 billion in 2023, representing an increase of 13.5%.
Breakdown by category:
- Medical supplies: €860 million, up from €738 million in 2024 (+16.5%). The increase approaches €200 million over a two-year period.
- Orthopedic materials: €174 million, remaining at roughly the same levels as 2024.
- Reagents: €211 million, compared to €199 million (+5.2%).
- Other materials: €84 million, versus €83 million previously.
Expenses for consumables such as gases and fuel reached €140 million, down from €146 million in 2024, marking a decrease of 4.1%.
Meanwhile, spending obligations for services — including payroll-related costs, utilities, security, cleaning services and other operational expenses — totaled €1.02 billion, slightly higher than the previous year.
The Five Most Expensive Hospitals
The five public hospitals with the highest spending nationwide were:
- Papageorgiou General Hospital
- Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center
- Evangelismos General Hospital
- Attikon University Hospital
- Hippokration Hospital of Thessaloniki
The 10 Most Expensive Surgical Procedures
Orthopedic and ophthalmological operations dominate the list of the most expensive surgical procedures in Greece’s public hospitals, based on total reimbursement value through the DRG system.
At the top of the list are hip replacement surgeries, with 8,038 procedures performed at a total reimbursement value exceeding €33.3 million.
They are followed by cataract surgeries with lens removal, which reached 41,883 procedures with a total cost of approximately €27.4 million.
Knee replacement surgeries also ranked high, with 6,138 procedures costing nearly €27.2 million.
Eye surgeries — including corneal and eyelid procedures — also featured prominently, with more than 41,000 operations totaling €26.4 million.
Significant costs were also recorded for other hip and femur surgeries, which reached 8,849 procedures with a combined value of €23.2 million.
Modern cardiac surgery procedures also showed particularly high costs. Complex minimally invasive heart valve operations accounted for only 685 cases, yet total spending exceeded €20.8 million, highlighting the exceptionally high cost per operation.
The list also includes laparoscopic gallbladder removals, with 15,992 procedures costing €19.4 million, hernia surgeries totaling 14,478 procedures with costs of €15.4 million, and 3,801 small and large intestine surgeries with total spending approaching €13.1 million.
Completing the top ten were aortic stent placement procedures, with 867 cases generating costs of approximately €12.7 million.
Overall, the ten most expensive categories of surgical procedures accounted for more than 142,000 operations in Greece’s public hospitals, with total expenditure surpassing €218.9 million.
