Unemployment in Greece falls to 7.4% in August — the lowest level since 2008

Unemployment in Greece fell to 7.4% in August, from 7.9% in July, marking the lowest level since May 2008, as data published today by the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) and reported by Reuters show.

According to the official data, the number of unemployed fell to 350,800 — 25,656 fewer than in July and 67,181 fewer than in August last year, when unemployment was 8.8%. Meanwhile, the number of employed rose to 4.41 million: 17,322 more than the previous month and 85,042 more than a year earlier, according to Trading Economics reporting.

The gender gap remains deep: unemployment among women fell to 10.3%, while among men it was 4.9%. Young people aged 15–24 continue to face the greatest difficulties, with unemployment of 15.6%, while for the 25–74 age group the level is 6.9%, ELSTAT data show.

The number of people outside the labour force under the age of 75 reached 2.94 million — 4,130 more than in July, but 60,682 fewer than a year earlier.

The continuous fall in unemployment comes after a decade of improvement: from 17.9% in July 2019, unemployment has fallen steadily, and the agency Morningstar DBRS forecasts for Greece average unemployment of 8.3% in 2026 and 7.8% in 2027. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has set the goal of reducing unemployment to 6% by 2030.