Foreign direct investment (FDI) rose nearly 42% in the first half of 2025, compared to the same period in 2024, Bank of Greece data show.
Specifically, FDI reached €2.801 billion from €1.974 billion in 2024. But the gains are relative to a weak base, since the second half of 2024 was much better than the first.
For all of 2024, FDI was €6.749 billion, up 41% from 2023 (4.775 billion) but less than the record year of 2022 (€8.026 billion).
There is still no breakdown by sector but, at least, investment in real estate was €356.8 million, down from €520 million in the first half of 2024.
Higher FDI is one of the government’s top priorities as Deputy Prime Minister Kostis Hatzidakis indicated recently.
“Without investments, there are now new jobs and better salaries,” he said, announcing changes in industry, tourism and zoning, as well as a 25% cut in bureaucracy.
All these measures, he said, will be announced by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in his keynote speech at the Thessaloniki International Fair on September 6.
According to a report by UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Greece’s FDI numbers in 2022 and 2024 were the best since 1990.
Hatzidakis said that total investment, and not just FDI, has risen 64% in constant prices since 2019, the best progress in the EU. But, as a percentage of GDP, Greece (15.3% in 2024) lags the eurozone average (21%).