Greece smashes tourism records with 23.6 billion euro windfall in 2025

According to Bank of Greece data released this week, tourism receipts surged by 9.4% compared to 2024. 

The Mediterranean nation welcomed 37.98 million travelers—a 5.6% increase—driven by strong growth across both airport arrivals and land borders.

Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni hailed the milestone, noting that the financial gains significantly outpaced the sheer volume of new arrivals.

"This shows that we are gradually improving in qualitative indicators," Mrs. Kefalogianni said, describing 2025 as the best year of all time for the sector.

While European Union residents made up the bulk of the visitors at 22.4 million, non-EU arrivals saw the sharpest spike, jumping 10% to reach 15.56 million. 

Germany and the United Kingdom fueled the boom, each contributing roughly 3.8 billion euros to the Greek economy. 

Germany led in total volume with 5.9 million arrivals, followed closely by the U.K. with 4.9 million.

Visitors from the United States also showed robust spending, injecting 1.7 billion euros into the market despite a modest 0.2% uptick in actual arrivals.

The influx of international travelers resulted in a travel balance surplus of 20.25 billion euros. Crucially, this tourism windfall accounted for 89% of the country's service receipts, effectively offsetting nearly 60% of Greece's goods trade deficit.