Last reviewed 7 September 2026. Every figure on this page was checked against the source named next to it; where two official series disagree, the difference is stated.
Greece has just recorded its best tourism year on record. In 2025 the country welcomed 37.98 million international visitors — up 5.6% on 2024 and the third consecutive annual record — while travel receipts climbed 9.4% to €23.6 billion, according to Bank of Greece balance-of-travel data. Tourism is now the backbone of the Greek economy: INSETE, the research institute of the Greek Tourism Confederation, puts its direct contribution at €32.4 billion in 2025, or 13% of GDP, rising to as much as 34.6% once indirect effects are counted. The figures below come from the Bank of Greece, INSETE, Eurostat and airport operators, and are the latest available as of September 2026 — including first-half 2026 data showing arrivals up 15.4% and receipts up 14.8%.
Key Greece tourism statistics
- 37.98 million international arrivals in 2025 (excluding cruise passengers), up 5.6% on 2024 — a third straight record year (Bank of Greece).
- Travel receipts reached €23.6 billion in 2025, up 9.4%, with the travel balance surplus widening to €20.25 billion.
- In January–June 2026 arrivals rose 15.4% to 13.49 million and receipts 14.8% to €8.80 billion, although June's growth slowed to +6.9% and +1.2% respectively (Bank of Greece).
- Tourism contributed €32.4 billion directly to GDP in 2025 (13%), up 7.3% on 2024, and between 28.7% and 34.6% of GDP including indirect effects (INSETE).
- Germany was the largest source market in 2025 with 5.95 million arrivals; the UK followed with 4.89 million and receipts of €3.74 billion, up 18.5%.
- Athens International Airport handled a record 34 million passengers in 2025, up 6.7% year on year.
- 41.6% of Greece's tourism overnight stays in 2025 fell in July and August — the third most seasonal market in the EU (Eurostat).
- Since 21 July 2025, cruise passengers disembarking at Santorini and Mykonos in peak season pay a €20 levy per person, and Santorini now caps cruise arrivals at 8,000 passengers a day.
Record international arrivals
- Inbound arrivals reached 37.98 million in 2025, up 5.6% from 35.95 million in 2024, according to Bank of Greece data reported by GTP Headlines. The provisional figures exclude cruise passengers.
- 2024 was itself a record: arrivals rose 9.8% to 35.95 million, from 32.73 million in 2023, per the INSETE Statistical Bulletin No. 100.
- Greece's 2024 arrivals stood at 106% of pre-pandemic 2019 levels, outperforming the global recovery rate of 99% (UNWTO data via INSETE).
- Including cruise visitors, total arrivals reached roughly 40.7 million in 2024, up 12.8% year on year (INSETE).
- Growth in 2025 was driven by long-haul demand: non-EU arrivals rose 10% against 2.8% growth from the EU.
- The season is stretching: December 2025 arrivals jumped 49% year on year to 1.31 million.
- 2026 has started faster still: 13.49 million visitors arrived in the first half of 2026, up 15.4%, with June alone bringing 4.92 million (+6.9%) — but average spend per trip slipped 6.2% in June, so revenue is now growing more slowly than volume (Bank of Greece data via Euronews).
Travel receipts and the visitor economy
- Travel receipts hit €23.6 billion in 2025, up 9.4% — revenue grew at nearly double the pace of arrivals, helped by a 3.8% rise in average spend per trip (Bank of Greece).
- The travel services surplus widened to €20.25 billion in 2025, from €18.79 billion in 2024.
- Receipts reached €8.80 billion in January–June 2026, up 14.8% on the same period of 2025, and the half-year travel surplus rose to €6.93 billion from €6.01 billion; UK receipts grew 8.5% to €1.18 billion and US receipts 10.8% to €797 million, while German receipts fell 6.3% to €1.28 billion despite more German visitors (Bank of Greece, via Euronews).
- In 2024 receipts were €21.7 billion (up 5.4%), though average per-capita spend slipped 5.1% to €573, from €603 in 2023 (INSETE). The 2025 rebound in spend per trip signals a shift towards higher-value tourism — a trend we track in our luxury travel statistics.
- Tourism's direct contribution to the economy rose 7.3% to €32.4 billion in 2025 — 13% of GDP — and to between €71.3 billion and €85.9 billion (28.7% to 34.6% of GDP) with indirect effects, per INSETE research published in May 2026; the 2024 figures were €30.2 billion directly and up to 33.7% in total (INSETE).
- The sector directly employed 400,250 people on average in 2025 (flat on 2024's 401,000), with a record 475,167 employees in the third-quarter peak; counting supported jobs, tourism accounted for up to 750,659 jobs — 17% of total Greek employment — at the height of the 2025 season, up from 713,140 (16.5%) in 2024 (INSETE).
- Tourism spreads wealth beyond the capital: 74% of inbound revenue was generated outside Attica in 2025, led by the South Aegean (29%), Crete (19%) and the Ionian Islands (8%); in 2024 the share outside Attica was 77% (INSETE).
Source markets: Germany and the UK lead
- Germany remained the top market in 2025 with 5.95 million arrivals (up 10.2%) and receipts of €3.78 billion (Bank of Greece via GTP).
- The United Kingdom is closing the gap fast: 4.89 million arrivals (up 7.6%) and receipts of €3.74 billion, up 18.5% — the strongest growth of any major market in 2025.
- The United States delivered €1.72 billion in receipts in 2025 (up 8.5%) from 1.55 million visitors — the highest spend per head among the top markets.
- In 2024 the full ranking by receipts was Germany (€3.70bn), UK (€3.17bn), US (€1.58bn), France (€1.26bn) and Italy (€1.23bn), per the INSETE bulletin.
- The Russian market has effectively vanished: just 16,100 arrivals in 2024, down 54.9% year on year.
- Greece's growth contrasts with slower expansion in rival Mediterranean destinations — see our Spain tourism statistics and France tourism statistics for comparison.
Airports and gateways
- Greek airports handled 26.0 million international air arrivals in 2024, up 8.1% on 2023 (HCAA/AIA data via INSETE).
- Athens International Airport set an all-time record of 34 million passengers in 2025, up 6.7% from 31.8 million in 2024, with 283,589 flights and traffic running 33% above 2019 levels (Tornos News). A €1.3 billion expansion will lift capacity towards 40 million passengers.
- Athens took 30.4% of international air arrivals in 2024, ahead of Heraklion (14.6%), Rhodes (11.5%), Thessaloniki (9.4%) and Corfu (7.5%).
- Athens airport handled 15.75 million passengers in the first half of 2026, up 4.5%, on 132,933 flights (+3.9%); June 2026 traffic grew a more modest 1.7% to 3.51 million (GTP Headlines).
- Crete received 5.3 million international air arrivals in 2024 (up 6.6%), while the Dodecanese grew fastest among island regions at +10.3% to 4.4 million.
- Santorini Airport recorded 756,000 international arrivals (up 1.8%), while Mykonos slipped 4.2% to 523,000 — the only major island airport to decline.
Seasonality: a heavily peaked market
- 41.6% of Greece's tourism overnight stays in 2025 were concentrated in July and August — the third most seasonal market in the EU, behind Croatia (54.5%) and Bulgaria (43.4%), per Eurostat data reported by GTP.
- August overnight stays ran 20.5 times higher than January's (Eurostat).
- July 2024 was the peak month for air travel with 4.6 million international arrivals, against just 485,000 in January (INSETE).
- The shoulders are growing fastest: first-quarter 2024 air arrivals rose 18.7% and the fourth quarter 9.5%, versus 6.6% in the third-quarter peak — evidence of a deliberate season-stretching strategy.
Overtourism and the 2025 cruise levy
- Since 21 July 2025 — the launch was pushed back from 1 July after spring seismic activity dented Santorini bookings — Greece has charged cruise passengers a disembarkation fee of €20 per person at Santorini and Mykonos during peak season (1 June–30 September), under Law 5162/2024 (GTP Headlines).
- The two islands' fee drops to €12 in shoulder season (April, May, October) and €4 in low season; all other Greek ports charge €5, €3 and €1 respectively.
- The pressure is real: Santorini received 1.34 million cruise passengers in 2024 (up 4%) and Mykonos 1.29 million (up 8.4%).
- For the 2026 season Santorini's municipality, following a joint study with the University of the Aegean, is enforcing a ceiling of 8,000 cruise passengers a day and spreading ship calls across the week to avoid the mass congestion of earlier years (Athens Times).
- Cruise travel receipts jumped 31.2% to €1.1 billion in 2024, on top of €20.6 billion in non-cruise receipts (INSETE).
- Levy proceeds are split in equal thirds between local municipalities, the Maritime Ministry and the Tourism Ministry, earmarked for port infrastructure and sustainable tourism projects.
Sources
- Bank of Greece — Developments in the balance of travel services, December 2025
- Bank of Greece — Travel services statistics (monthly balance of travel services, 2026)
- Euronews — Greece's tourist numbers have risen in 2026, but visitors are spending less (Bank of Greece H1 2026 data)
- GTP Headlines — INSETE: Greek tourism contributed €32.4 billion to the economy in 2025
- GTP Headlines — Athens Airport welcomes 15.75 million passengers in first half of 2026
- GTP Headlines — Greece rolls out cruise passenger fee (21 July 2025)
- Athens Times — Santorini sets daily cruise cap at 8,000 visitors
- INSETE — Statistical Bulletin No. 100, Special Edition 2024 Report
- GTP Headlines — Greek tourism revenues jump 9.4% to €23.6bn in 2025
- GTP Headlines — Greece hits record 35.9 million tourists in 2024
- GTP Headlines — INSETE: Greek tourism's total contribution soars to €80 billion in 2024
- GTP Headlines — Eurostat: over 40% of Greece's tourism nights fall in July and August
- GTP Headlines — Greece to charge cruise passenger fee from July 1
- GTP Headlines — Greek tourism records 35.2 million visitors and €22.4bn in receipts in Jan–Oct 2025
- Tornos News — Athens: record 34 million passengers in 2025 at the airport
