According to the 2025 interim report by the Labour Institute of the General Confederation of Greek Workers (INE-GSEE), regional inequality is not just persisting—it is deepening, despite an overall rise in national economic activity.
This uneven growth favors regions like Attica, home to Athens, and a few others with stronger technological and productive capabilities. These areas are reaping the benefits of economic expansion, while much of the rest of the country—including rural and northern regions—struggles to keep pace. The divide is becoming structural, reflecting long-standing disparities in infrastructure, education, innovation, and investment.
Labor market figures underscore this imbalance. In most parts of the country, employment rates fall short of both the national average of 63.3% and the European Union average of 70.8%. In regions such as Thessaly, Western Macedonia, and Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, employment remains especially weak. Gender inequality adds another layer to the problem: in Central Greece, for instance, the gap between male and female employment reaches a staggering 27.5 percentage points.
Underemployment is another pressing concern. Regions like the Ionian Islands, South Aegean, and Western Macedonia report some of the highest rates in the country, and in some cases, the gender gap in underemployment is more than four times the EU average. Long-term unemployment also remains deeply entrenched. In Epirus, Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, and Central Macedonia, over 60% of those without work have been unemployed for more than a year, with women disproportionately affected.
Even university graduates are not immune. In Western and Central Macedonia, graduate unemployment exceeds 11%, with the rate for women in Western Macedonia reaching 16.3%—more than triple the level in Attica. Meanwhile, jobs in high-tech sectors are virtually nonexistent in many parts of the country. In Attica, employment in high-tech industries reaches 5.8%, but drops dramatically to 0.8% in Thessaly and just 1.1% in the Peloponnese.
This pattern reflects a broader underinvestment in human capital. Participation in adult education and vocational training is far below EU levels. In the North Aegean, where there has been some progress, participation still only reaches 6%, compared to 13.3% across the EU. In many other regions, the rate is under 2%.
The innovation gap is similarly wide. Only Attica, Epirus, and Crete come close to matching EU levels of employment in research and development. Yet even in these regions, public and private spending on R&D falls well short of the European average.
