ATHENS – There seems to be no stopping the Greek economy’s comeback from the verge of collapse in 2010 – saved by what turned into three international bailouts totaling €326 billion ($350 billion) that didn’t end until 2018.

The rebound is continuing, with nearly 6% growth in 2023, driven by record tourism, and an expected 2% for 2024 and 2.5% in 2025 due to rising employment and tourism.

That was the outlook from the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), although new job growth has slowed, and there is simultaneously not enough workers to fill positions in some sectors.

Wage growth reached 5.5% in the fourth quarter of 2023 on an annual basis, the OECD noted, with the minimum wage increasing by 9.4% in April 2023 and a further 6.4% in April 2024, although Greek salaries remain low.

The agency said absorption of Recovery and Resilience Fund resources and continued improvement in bank soundness will support investment, despite tight financial conditions, with investment forecast to grow by 9% in 2025.

Inflation will continue to decline, but at a slower pace, forecasted to ease to 2.1% in the last quarter of 2025 – although supermarket prices haven’t followed a downward path.

The OECD also expects a primary surplus of 1.8% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which doesn’t include the cost of paying debt, municipal and state enterprise expenses, and the military. The goal for 2025 is 2.1%.

Public debt remains high – it was 161% of GDP in 2023, although it is expected to fall to 151% by the end of 2025, a rate that was almost unsustainable and took years to repay the bailouts.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ all-out focus on economic acceleration and attracting more Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) worked well, resulting in a 62% increase from 2021-23 and a $6.7 billion bonanza.

That began a year after the COVID-19 pandemic struck the world, rocking Greece’s tourism-reliant economy. The pandemic brought business lockdowns and nearly halted international air traffic, but Greece is now rebounding with record levels of foreign arrivals.

Greece had been averaging $4.15 billion in FDI from 2017-19, which fell to $3.2 billion in 2020 before jumping to $6.3 billion in 2021, even during health restrictions that weren’t lifted until a year later to lure more tourists, which proved successful.

While the levels dropped to $5.4 billion in 2023, it was still far higher than pre-pandemic levels, and the Conservative government is pushing for more foreign investors, particularly 5-star hotels and luxury resorts that are taking over public beaches.

The report measures FDI through equity capital, often through acquisitions and mergers or creation of new production units, reinvestment of profits, and intra-business borrowing.

There was also soaring investments abroad by Greek companies, jumping from only $429 million from 2017-19 to $2.8 billion from 2021-23, as well as an explosion of exports after Greek products weren’t marketed aggressively for years.