The Hellenic Statistical Authority published the results of its 2024 Business Demography survey on 29 October. Active enterprises in industry, construction, trade and services numbered 964,851, with 88,028 enterprise births and 37,391 enterprise deaths. Of these, 707,282 were sole proprietorships and 598,707 had no paid employees. Trade accounts for the largest number, 220,379 enterprises, while Attica is home to 39.5% of the total.
What it means: The figures confirm that Greek enterprise rests on very small units. Roughly six in ten businesses have no employees at all, and the vast majority are sole proprietorships. New businesses clearly outnumbered closures, so the total is growing, but that growth does not automatically translate into more jobs or larger companies. For policy design this matters: funding, digitalisation and merger incentive schemes need to reach units with limited resources and no administrative staff. For banks and providers of software or payments, the market is large in numbers but fragmented, with customers who need simple and inexpensive solutions. The concentration of almost half of all businesses in Attica also shows the imbalance between the capital and the regions. Finally, the large number of small firms in trade explains why rules on electronic invoicing, linking cash registers with card terminals and digital payments affect so many professionals at the same time. The data cover 2024, so they do not yet reflect developments in 2025 and 2026.
Notice: For information only. Not investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell.
Related service: Consulting
Related stories
- Eurostat: non-household electricity prices fall further; Greece −11.8%
- BoG follow-up: September rate tables show 0.40% new deposits and 4.76% new loans
- ELSTAT: unemployment at 7.6% in September, down from 8.8% a year earlier
- ECB: professional forecasters raise their 2026 inflation expectation to 3.0%
- ECB: Christine Lagarde to step down as president on 7 February 2027