Greece tourism revenue surpasses €20 billion in first nine months of 2025

Greece’s tourism sector continued its strong run in 2025, with industry takings exceeding €20 billion between January and September. According to data reported by Greek media and the Bank of Greece, tourism receipts rose 9% year on year to €20.1 billion, supported by 31.6 million international arrivals – a 4% increase on 2024. Growth was spread across European, UK, and long-haul source markets.

The momentum eased in September, when visitor spending failed to keep pace with rising arrivals. Monthly revenue declined 3.6% to €3.4 billion, despite a similar uplift in visitor numbers. The Bank of Greece highlighted the main pressure point: average spend per trip fell 7.8% compared with September 2024, signalling more cost-conscious travel behaviour.

Eurozone markets saw the sharpest pullback. European Union (EU) revenue for the month dropped 10.2% to €1.8 billion, with Germany recording a notable 28.3% fall to €477.5 million. France and Italy provided some relief, posting increases of 20% (€168.7 million) and 42.5% (€212.5 million) respectively. The UK also delivered a strong September, with receipts rising 27.4% to €612.7 million. In contrast, US spending fell 19.5% to €224.9 million.

Across the nine-month period, EU visitors generated €10.9 billion (up 5.6%), while non-EU markets contributed €8.1 billion, a 12.7% rise. Non-EU arrivals grew 9.3% to 12.7 million. Germany remained Greece’s largest source market (4.8 million arrivals), followed by the UK (4 million), with the US sending 1.2 million.

According to Aviva’s travel insurance claims data for 2024, holidays to Greece incurred the highest costs for cancelling a holiday in Europe at £1,298.