GREECE Trends and Developments Contributed by: Theodoros Skouzos and Natalia Skoulidou, Iason Skouzos TaxLaw
Greece in 2025 – From Crisis Story to Investment Story Over the last decade, Greece has moved away from being the epicentre of the eurozone debt crisis to being discussed as a recovery case study. Interna - tional institutions project growth of around 2% per year in the medium term – a rate that is modest in absolute terms but above that of several larger euro - zone economies. At the same time, the country has regained investment-grade status with all major rating agencies, and is attracting renewed interest in sectors ranging from tourism and renewables to technology and defence. For investors, Greece today is neither a “risk-free” safe haven nor a high-risk frontier market. It is a mid- sized, service-driven European economy with some clear strengths (political stability, EU membership, strategic location, human capital) and equally clear weaknesses (slow justice, bureaucracy in practice, and a serious demographic problem). The aim of this article is to give a non-technical overview of the Greek economy and business environment, with practical pointers about trends, advantages, challenges and opportunities that matter when deciding whether – and how – to invest. Macroeconomic overview: growth, debt and stability Greece’s macroeconomic position is significantly stronger than it was a decade ago. The IMF’s 2025 Article IV consultation describes the near-term out - look as “favourable”, with GDP growth projected at about 2.1% in 2025 and around 2% in the following years, helped by investment and EU recovery funds. The country has exited its bailout programmes, runs primary budget surpluses and is gradually reducing its very high public debt ratio, which had briefly exceed - ed 200% of GDP during the pandemic. Greece is also part of a broader “reversal of fortunes” in Europe, where several southern economies are now growing faster than some core northern economies, partly thanks to the deployment of EU recovery and resilience funds into tourism, green energy and infra - structure. However, growth remains sensitive to exter - nal conditions such as European demand, geopoliti - cal tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean and global
interest rates. Investors should therefore see Greece as a medium-growth, reforming eurozone economy with some cyclicality, rather than as a high-growth emerging market. Political stability and the reform agenda Political stability is a major macroeconomic advan - tage. Since 2019, Greece has been governed by the centre-right New Democracy party under Prime Min - ister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who secured a second term in 2023 and is already strategising for a potential third term to 2030, signalling continuity of policy. The gov - ernment’s agenda focuses on further reducing tax - es, modernising the state (especially through digital tools), improving infrastructure and tackling structural issues such as justice and demographics. For investors, this relative stability has three practical implications. • First, economic and tax policies tend to be reason - ably predictable compared to the volatile period of 2010–2015. • Second, reforms are often framed explicitly around attracting foreign direct investment, including sim - plified licensing and targeted incentives. • Third, political stability does not eliminate social tensions – reforms in areas such as rail safety, pensions or justice can trigger protests and court challenges, so the road map for implementation may be “bumpy”. Credit ratings and market perception All three major credit rating agencies now classify Greece as investment grade again – a symbolic and practical milestone. Fitch upgraded the country to “BBB” with a stable outlook in November 2025, not - ing sustained fiscal discipline and stronger growth prospects. Moody’s raised Greece to Baa3 in 2024, explicitly linking the upgrade to a more stable political environment and improved debt dynamics. Investment-grade status reduces the sovereign’s borrowing costs and widens the pool of institutional investors that can hold Greek bonds. For companies, this tends to lower funding costs over time, improve bank balance sheets and raise valuations on the Ath - ens Stock Exchange.
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