Below the European Union average, Greece’s youth unemployment fell for the first time on record in December, with much of the convergence achieved in the last six years, especially since the end of the pandemic.

According to data from ELSTAT and Eurostat, unemployment in the 15 to 24-year-old age group in our country stood at 13% in December last year, 9.3 points lower compared to the last month of 2024, while in the EU it was measured at 14.7%.

These data were published at the end of January, but further analysis of the time series of the two statistical services shows that it is the first time since data collection began in January 2000, i.e. in the last 26 years, that Greece has performed better than the average of the 27 member states of the European Union.

This is a fact that essentially certifies the rapid recovery of employment in Greece in recent years and the absorption of young people into the labour market, although during the period of the economic crisis, the gap to the detriment of our country even reached 37.5 points.

The great progress is also reflected in the ERGANI system, as between 2019 and 2025, private employees up to 24 years of age increased by 64,900 people. Considering that 563,000 new jobs were created in the private sector in the same period, this means that 11.5% of those hired were young workers.

The history of the Greek “comeback.”

The nadir was recorded in May 2013, when youth unemployment in Greece reached 62.5%, compared to 25% in the EU. The indicator for Greece remained above 40% until mid-2018, a consequence of the prolonged uncertainty and low growth rate, with Greece consistently ranking either last or second to last among EU members, with Spain as the only “competitor”.

Since the summer of 2019, when the youth unemployment rate was hovering between 37% and 38%, a noticeable improvement began, but the outbreak of the pandemic “froze” economic activity. From the end of 2022, however, when the effects of the health crisis began to subside, youth unemployment started to decline again.

With the economy recovering and investment having a significant share in the mix, the share of unemployed 15 to 24-year-olds fell below the “barrier” of 20% in 2024. This momentum continued in 2025, especially at the end of the year, as in just the last three months, the index fell by almost eight points. Despite seasonal fluctuations in the labour market, it is clear that the contraction in unemployment among those aged 24 and under has been deep and systematic.

Analysts and market participants pointed out that, in addition to the growth momentum of the economy, a matrix of policies has helped boost youth employment, particularly the 5.4-point cumulative reduction in social security contributions from 2019 and the widespread implementation of the digital job card, through which hours worked that were previously “black” are reported. The same sources stressed that young workers are often the most vulnerable to bad employer practices, such as undeclared overtime.

Two sources added that late last year, the tax cuts announced at the TIF, which are particularly favourable for employees up to 25 years old, as they guarantee zero tax for incomes up to €20,000, also had a positive effect on recruitment.

A senior executive in the retail sector also pointed to the speed with which youth unemployment in Greece has been decelerating, adding that “scars” in the labour market usually take longer to heal.

The rapid decline in youth unemployment in Greece in recent years is reflected in the comparison with Spain. Although the two countries were “fellow travellers” during the economic crisis, as of 2023, Greece has clearly “overtaken” Iberia. Indicatively, last December, youth unemployment in Spain was measured at 23.4%, more than 10 points worse than in our country.