Data from the Ministry of National Economy and Finance revealed that outstanding debts in Greece saw an upward trend in 2024, with the total amount rising by 246 million euros compared to 2023. This marked another year of increasing debt, continuing a pattern that began in 2021.
As figures indicated from 1.8 billion euros in 2020 and 2021, debts climbed to 2.36 billion euros in 2022 and reached 2.8 billion euros in 2023, with the figure having risen to 3.05 billion euros, by the end of 2024.
The European Commission has exerted pressure on Greece to address this growing issue, which poses a significant challenge to the economy.
The majority of the outstanding debts are in the healthcare sector, with unpaid bills from hospitals totaling 1.16 billion euros and debts owed to the National Organization for Health Care Services Provision (EOPYY) reaching 208 million euros.
In addition, there are significant delays in tax refunds, which stood at 731 million euros in 2024, reflecting an increase of 31% from December 2023. A notable portion of this includes tax refunds pending for more than three months, which now amount to 400 million euros.
The remaining unpaid taxes, not yet delayed for 90 days, reached 331 million euros in 2024, compared to 274 million euros in the previous year.
The debts of the social security organizations also grew, totaling 585 million euros in 2024, marking a 61-million-euro increase compared to the end of 2023.
Furthermore, payments owed to beneficiaries of the Public Investment Program amounted to 150 million euros, primarily for public contractors and other recipients of co-financed programs from the European Union.
Municipalities’ debts have also increased, with outstanding payments rising to 231 million euros in 2024 up by 82 million euros at the end of 2023, marking the largest increase across all sectors.
Unpaid obligations of insurance funds totaled 377 million euros, which include pending pension payments as well as unpaid one-off benefits.
Lastly, legal entities of the central government owed 180 million euros by the end of 2024, marking an increase of about 18 million euros from December 2023.
