Greece will not turn into Switzerland or Sweden anytime soon as the economy continues to suffer from years of recession

The Athens resident only has about 150 euros ($170) to save at the end of the month, and that’s despite getting a good deal on rent and earning a little more than minimum wage.

Many Greeks face similar challenges – which is why Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is expected to announce new benefits in a keynote speech this weekend.

“I’m responsible enough for what I do, but … everything just goes up and up. And the amount we pay is about the same every year,” he said.

“Things seem to be getting better, but they’re not,” the 27-year-old told AFP.

Living standards in Greece remain low despite the Mediterranean country’s substantial recovery, which has the economy growing by two percent – a higher rate than most of Europe.

The reason for the two sides of the coin is that Greece has significant ground to recover from a nearly decade-long economic crisis and pandemic recession.

The economy “is growing and all the right measures are improving, but starting from a very low base,” economist Nikos Vettas told AFP.

“Even if you have growth now, this improvement is not enough to catch up,” said Vettas, who heads the Greek economic and industrial research foundation IOBE.

To further complicate matters, housing and food prices have risen due to inflation, which is only now coming down.

“The cost of living has actually neutralized some of the wage growth that we’ve had, and as a result, the real incomes of many households are suffering,” Vettas said.

Mitsotakis’s conservative government – which is sinking in the polls – has blamed the high cost of living on rising energy prices that followed the war in Ukraine.

His New Democracy Party is currently polling at around 22 percent, a far cry from the 40.56 percent it won in last year’s national election.

Mitsotakis is expected to announce a new round of benefits in the prime minister’s annual speech on the economy in Thessaloniki this weekend.

“Life is so expensive”

Last year, the country of just over 10 million inhabitants had the second lowest GDP per capita in terms of purchasing power in the European Union.

Only Bulgaria fared worst, according to EU data agency Eurostat.

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

And the Greek minimum wage is 830 euros, about 900 euros below that of France.

“So how should you live if you have to rent a house for 500 euros?” asked Athens hairdresser Christina Massiou.

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

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

They went to relax and “get away from reality,” Massiou said.

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

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

No Switzerland or Sweden

Last month, the Economy Ministry said that household net disposable income had risen in recent years, placing Greece 16th in the European Union.

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

But the ministry admitted it was not a cause for celebration or a reason to “underestimate the real difficulties many of our fellow citizens face”.

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

Vettas, the economist, noted that some sectors fared better than others.

“We’ve seen in the last three or four years a sharp increase in the wages of professions where they have some specialty, some expertise,” he said.

“Either the high end or the low end,” Vettas added, giving the examples of computer scientists and construction workers.

But for those employed in a sector like hospitality – a big industry in Greece – “it’s not easy to see how you’re going to improve their position”.

Giannichronis, the barista, said he tries to stay zen about the economic situation despite having to think about money all the time.

“I’m not angry because it wouldn’t help me. Things are as they are. We can’t change much,” he said.

What he can control is how to budget his own expenses and help his friends better manage theirs, he added.

“But if I was mad about it too, then I’d start to lose myself and go crazy in the streets shouting… and I don’t want that.”

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