If you work in a Greek hotel kitchen or behind a café counter, you may have heard that wages in Greece are rising fast. On average, they are. The average monthly private-sector wage reached €1,336 in 2025, up 30.3% on 2019, according to figures from the draft state budget and from ELSTAT and ERGANI surveys.

But that average hides a sharp divide. Some sectors gained more than 40% over the same period. Others, including hospitality, gained less than 20%. If you are weighing a job offer or a career move, the sector you work in may matter more to your salary than the national headline.

Where the raises actually went

Of the 12 categories in the wage index, professional, scientific and technical activities rose the most, at 45.4%. Information and communication came next at 43.8%, followed by administrative activities at 41%. At the other end, cafés, restaurants and hotels managed only 19.6%. Electricity and gas supply rose 18.6% and water supply rose 14.9%.

The middle of the table sits close to the national average: 37.6% in retail and wholesale, 36.3% in construction, 33.6% in mining, 33.3% in industry and manufacturing, 31.2% in transport and storage and 24.7% in real estate.

The hospitality figure stands out because tourism businesses keep reporting staff shortages. In theory, a shortage pushes pay up. In practice, the sector’s wage index has grown at roughly half the pace of tech and professional services since 2019.

The minimum wage did more of the lifting than you might think

The statutory minimum wage rose 4.55% from April 2026, from €880 to €920 a month. The minimum daily wage for manual workers went from €39.30 to €41.09. In total, the minimum wage is up 41.5% since 2019. That is faster than hospitality wages overall.

This matters if you earn close to the floor. Part of any raise you received may simply be the legal minimum catching up, not your employer valuing your role more. The government has announced further increases to €960 in April 2027 and €1,000 by January 2028.

The jobs market is still on your side

ERGANI data show a net hiring balance of 323,136 jobs between January and July, against 319,843 in the same period a year earlier. Hirings totalled 1,994,155 and departures 1,671,019. Unemployment fell to 7.9% in the second quarter of 2026, down from 8.6% a year before, and the seasonally adjusted rate stood at 7.4% in August.

With nearly 4 million salaried workers out of 5.3 million people in employment, the market is moving. More than 1.6 million departures in seven months suggest that many people are already changing jobs. The outlook is slower, though. Employment is forecast to grow 0.4% in 2027 and salaried employment 0.7%.

What to check before you accept an offer

• Compare against your sector, not the country. A 30% raise since 2019 is above average in hospitality but below average in information and communication.
• Separate the legal floor from a real raise. If your pay moved only when the minimum wage did, your role has not been repriced.
• Think in real terms. Compensation per employee is forecast to rise 3.7% in 2026 and 3.9% in 2027. After inflation, real compensation per employee is estimated to grow only 1.5% in 2027.
• Ask about the full-time figure. The average full-time wage reached €1,516, which is a fairer benchmark than the overall average if you work full time.

Before any salary negotiation, bring your sector’s figure with you. Saying that your field has grown about 40% since 2019 is a stronger argument than asking for a bit more.

Your options if your sector is lagging

If you work in hospitality or utilities, you do not have to switch careers to benefit from these numbers. Shortages give you leverage. Ask about guaranteed hours, overtime rates and season-to-season contracts as well as base pay. Reading employer reviews can also show you which businesses keep their staff and which ones churn through them.

If you are considering a move, administrative roles are among the fastest-growing categories (41%), and many hotel and restaurant skills transfer to them, including scheduling, customer handling and supplier coordination.

The 30% headline is real, but it is an average across very different experiences. The figure that matters to you is the one for your own sector, and knowing it changes the conversation the next time you talk about pay.