Greece is not going to turn into Switzerland or Sweden anytime soon because the economy continues to suffer after years of recession

At the tip of the month, the Athenian only has about 150 euros (170 dollars) left, despite the fact that he gets low cost rent and earns just somewhat greater than the minimum wage.

Many Greeks are facing similar challenges, which is why Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is widely expected to announce recent advantages in a keynote speech this weekend.

“I am certainly responsible for my income, but … everything is increasing and increasing. And the amount we receive stays about the same every year,” he said.

“It looks like things are getting better, but that’s not the case,” the 27-year-old told AFP.

Despite the Mediterranean country’s significant recovery and economic growth of two percent – a better rate than in much of Europe – living standards in Greece remain low.

The reason for these two sides of the coin is that Greece has lots of catching as much as do after an economic crisis lasting almost ten years and a recession attributable to the pandemic.

The economy “is growing and all the right measures are leading to improvements, but we are starting from a very low level,” economist Nikos Vettas told AFP.

“Even if there is an increase now, this improvement is not enough to catch up,” says Vettas, who heads the Greek Foundation for Economic and Industrial Research, the think tank IOBE.

To make matters much more complicated, housing and food prices had risen as a consequence of inflation, which is barely now starting to say no.

“The cost of living has actually wiped out some of our wage increases, and as a result, real incomes for many households are suffering,” Vettas said.

The conservative Mitsotakis government – ​​whose poll rankings are declining – has attributed the high cost of living to the sharp rise in energy prices in consequence of the war in Ukraine.

His party Nea Dimokratia is currently polling at around 22 percent, a great distance from the 40.56 percent it won within the national elections last 12 months.

Mitsotakis is predicted to announce a brand new round of advantages within the prime minister’s annual economic speech in Thessaloniki this weekend.

“Life is so expensive”

Last 12 months, the country, with just over 10 million inhabitants, had the second lowest GDP per capita in purchasing power inside the European Union.

Only Bulgaria performed worst, in line with the EU data agency Eurostat.

It was also found that the common annual income in Greece in 2023 was half the European average.

And the Greek minimum wage, at 830 euros, is around 900 euros lower than the French one.

“So how are you supposed to live when you have to spend 500 euros on rent for a house?” asks Athens hairdresser Christina Massiou.

“Life is so expensive that you can’t save money for emergencies,” added the 24-year-old.

She and her friend Alexandra Siouti, who works at a PR agency, spoke under a palm tree on a beach near Athens.

They went there to calm down and “escape reality,” Massiou said.

“I’ve heard the older generations say things are getting better. For them, maybe,” Siouti, also 24, told AFP.

“But younger people don’t have many opportunities here to start their lives and invest in their dreams.”

No Switzerland or Sweden

Last month, the Ministry of Economy said that net disposable income of households had increased lately, putting Greece in sixteenth place within the European Union.

The data confirmed the “significant progress our country has made over the past five years,” the ministry said in a press release.

However, the ministry acknowledged that this was no reason to have a good time, nor was it a reason to “underestimate the real difficulties facing many of our fellow citizens.”

“It is obvious that Greece has not turned into Switzerland or Sweden,” it said.

Economist Vettas noted that some sectors performed higher than others.

“We have seen a sharp increase in salaries over the last three or four years in occupations where workers have a certain specialization or expertise,” he said.

“Either at the top or the bottom end,” Vettas added, citing computer scientists and construction employees as examples.

But for employees in a sector like hospitality – a significant economic sector in Greece – “it is not easy to see how their situation can be improved”.

Giannichronis, the barista, said he tries to stay calm within the face of the economic situation, although he’s consistently eager about money.

“I’m not angry because that wouldn’t do me any good. Things are what they are. There’s not much we can change,” he said.

What he can control is budgeting his own expenses and helping his friends higher manage theirs, he added.

“But if I were to get angry about it, I would start to lose myself and scream like crazy in the street… and I don’t want that.”