Greece’s agricultural sector is generating rising revenues, but analysts warn the gains are largely illusory – driven by inflation rather than genuine productivity growth.
The total value of Greek agricultural output reached €15.7 billion in 2024, employing 450,000 workers. Fruit leads production at 32% of output, followed by animal products (15%), olive oil (13%), and vegetables (13%). Some 85% of production serves domestic consumption, with exports accounting for 15% of value.
There are bright spots. Agricultural exports grew 8.1% between 2019 and 2024, and Greece has maintained a positive agricultural trade balance every year since 2012 – a reversal from the chronic deficits of previous decades.
But a new analysis by Greek think tank Dianeosis identifies six structural problems hobbling the sector’s potential. Researchers Fay Makantasi and Ilias Valentis write that the sector “is finding it increasingly difficult to convert labor, land and other available resources into new value.”
Chief among the problems is land fragmentation. Greece ranks fourth in the EU for smallest average farm size, with only 3% of holdings exceeding 30 hectares, against an EU average of 11%. The workforce is aging badly: Farmers over 65 now number more than 200,000, while workers under 39 shrank from 30% of the sector in 2008 to just 20% by 2020.
Education levels are strikingly low. Only 1.3% of agricultural land is managed by someone with full agricultural training; 94.4% of Greek farmers rely solely on experience – at a moment when agricultural technology is advancing rapidly.
Investment has lagged since the financial crisis, and small operators continue buying cheap, secondhand machinery rather than investing in more productive equipment or livestock.
The report calls for a national agricultural development strategy that would deploy EU funds as genuine growth tools, not merely income subsidies for farmers.