Greece’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 8.6% in the second quarter of 2025, according to the ELSTAT Labour Force Survey’s September 2025 release. The same release recorded 4,386,832 employed people and 411,722 unemployed people in Greece during that quarter. These figures describe the national labour market, while the monthly comparisons below focus on July observations and make the measurement period explicit.
Contents
- Q2 2025 labour-market snapshot
- How employment and unemployment changed
- The monthly unemployment-rate series
- July comparison from 2020 to 2025
- Gender and age differences
- How to read the estimates and revisions
Q2 2025 labour-market snapshot
The ELSTAT Labour Force Survey reported a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 8.6% for Greece in Q2 2025. For context, the rate was 10.4% in Q1 2025 and 9.8% in Q2 2024. The quarter therefore sits below both comparison points in the September 2025 release, although the rate and the headcounts are different measures and should not be treated as interchangeable.
Employment reached 4,386,832 people in Q2 2025. ELSTAT reported that this was 4.0% higher than in the previous quarter and 1.4% higher than in the same quarter of 2024. The increase in employment accompanied a lower count of people classified as unemployed: 411,722 in Q2 2025, down 15.7% from Q1 2025 and down 12.0% from Q2 2024.
The labour-force picture also includes people outside the labour force. Greece had 4,205,058 people outside the labour force in Q2 2025. For the under-75 population, the corresponding total was 2,965,238. ELSTAT reported that the under-75 figure fell 3.3% from the previous quarter and 1.0% from Q2 2024. This distinction matters because people outside the labour force are not counted as unemployed in the unemployment rate.
How employment and unemployment changed
The Q2 2025 figures show movement in three separate groups: employed people, unemployed people and people outside the labour force. Employment was 4,386,832, while unemployment was 411,722. The outside-the-labour-force total was 4,205,058, or 2,965,238 when the reported under-75 measure is used.
The direction of change was consistent for the main quarterly indicators. Employment rose 4.0% quarter over quarter and 1.4% year over year. Unemployment fell 15.7% quarter over quarter and 12.0% year over year. The under-75 outside-the-labour-force group also declined, by 3.3% from Q1 2025 and 1.0% from Q2 2024.
| Greece labour-market measure | Q2 2025 figure | Reported comparison |
|---|---|---|
| Seasonally adjusted unemployment rate | 8.6% | 10.4% in Q1 2025; 9.8% in Q2 2024 |
| Employed persons | 4,386,832 | +4.0% quarter over quarter; +1.4% year over year |
| Unemployed persons | 411,722 | -15.7% quarter over quarter; -12.0% year over year |
| Persons outside the labour force | 4,205,058 | Under-75 total: 2,965,238 |
These are national Greece figures from the ELSTAT Labour Force Survey, released in September 2025. The quarterly rate is seasonally adjusted, while the reported counts and comparison periods identify the population measures used in the release.
The monthly unemployment-rate series
The September 2025 ELSTAT release also presented monthly unemployment-rate estimates. In the updated series, Greece’s rate was 9.8% in January 2025, 9.3% in February, 9.5% in March, 8.9% in April, 8.5% in May and 9.0% in June. The monthly sequence shows a decline from January to May followed by a higher June estimate.
The same release listed the earlier estimates published on 2 July 2025 for several months. January was previously estimated at 9.6%, February at 9.2%, March at 9.5%, April at 8.3%, May at 7.9% and June at 8.5%. The current June estimate was 9.0%, compared with the 8.5% estimate published on 2 July 2025. ELSTAT also described 8.5% as the revised estimate published for the series through June 2025.
For the earlier monthly observations in the release, the unemployment-rate estimates were 9.3% in December 2024, 9.6% in November, 9.7% in October, 9.6% in September, 9.4% in August and 9.8% in July. For June 2024, the current estimate was 8.8%, compared with 9.0% in the estimate published on 2 July 2025. May 2024 was 10.4% in the current estimate, compared with 10.5% in the earlier estimate. April 2024 was 10.8% in both versions.
The monthly figures are estimates, and the differences between current and earlier versions illustrate why a date should accompany any quoted rate. For example, the May 2025 estimate changed from 7.9% to 8.5%, while the April 2025 estimate changed from 8.3% to 8.9%. March 2025 remained 9.5% in both figures supplied by ELSTAT.
July comparison from 2020 to 2025
July observations provide a consistent annual comparison in the ELSTAT September 2025 release. Greece’s unemployment rate was 8.0% in July 2025, compared with 9.8% in July 2024, 11.7% in July 2023, 12.8% in July 2022, 14.1% in July 2021 and 17.7% in July 2020.
The associated headcounts show the same broad direction. Employment was 4,384,424 in July 2025, up from 4,237,671 in July 2024, 4,188,869 in July 2023, 4,138,393 in July 2022, 4,009,998 in July 2021 and 3,694,141 in July 2020.
Unemployed persons numbered 380,885 in July 2025. The comparable totals were 460,294 in July 2024, 552,675 in July 2023, 607,422 in July 2022, 659,172 in July 2021 and 795,258 in July 2020. These are reported counts for the respective July measurement periods, not forecasts.
People outside the labour force totaled 2,983,272 in July 2025. The release reported 3,078,108 in July 2024, 3,058,642 in July 2023, 3,082,586 in July 2022, 3,191,653 in July 2021 and 3,401,714 in July 2020.
Taken together, the July series records a lower unemployment rate and a lower unemployed-person count in 2025 than in each listed year from 2020 through 2024, alongside higher employment than in each of those years. The outside-the-labour-force count in July 2025 was also lower than each listed July total from 2020 through 2024.
Gender and age differences
The July 2025 unemployment rate differed by sex and age. ELSTAT reported 6.3% for males and 10.1% for females. By age, the rate was 18.9% for people aged 15–24 and 7.4% for people aged 25–74.
The July 2024 figures were 7.6% for males, 12.6% for females, 19.2% for ages 15–24 and 9.3% for ages 25–74. In July 2023, the corresponding rates were 9.1%, 14.9%, 27.7% and 10.7%.
The earlier July observations show higher rates for both reported demographic divisions. In July 2022, male unemployment was 10.0%, female unemployment was 16.4%, unemployment for ages 15–24 was 29.5% and the rate for ages 25–74 was 11.9%. In July 2021, the figures were 10.5%, 18.6%, 34.2% and 13.1%, respectively.
In July 2020, ELSTAT reported 14.5% for males, 21.9% for females, 41.3% for ages 15–24 and 16.5% for ages 25–74. Across every listed July year, the female rate exceeded the male rate, and the 15–24 rate exceeded the 25–74 rate. The measurements identify unemployment-rate differences; they do not quantify the size of each demographic population.
How to read the estimates and revisions
A reported rate can change when the statistical series is updated. For June 2025, the current estimate was 9.0%, while the previous estimate published on 2 July 2025 was 8.5%; the release also listed 8.5% as the revised estimate published for the series through June 2025. For May 2025, the current estimate was 8.5%, versus 7.9% in the earlier publication. For April 2025, the current estimate was 8.9%, versus 8.3% in the earlier publication.
Not every month changed. March 2025 was 9.5% in both the current and 2 July 2025 estimates. April 2024 was 10.8% in both versions, while June 2024 was 8.8% in the current estimate and 9.0% in the earlier one.
The ELSTAT Labour Force Survey is therefore the named source for the Q2 2025, monthly and July figures above, and the September 2025 release date is part of their context. A separate Eurostat Euro indicators, December 2025 release, stated that Greece’s September 2025 unemployment rate was revised upward by 0.5 percentage points. Eurostat also said this was one of the upward revisions larger than 0.1 percentage points in the EU. That statement concerns a September 2025 revision and should not be substituted for the Q2 2025 rate or the July series reported by ELSTAT.