A recent analysis by the ENA Institute regarding healthcare coverage in the European Union reveals that while public healthcare systems exist across all EU countries, citizens often struggle to meet their healthcare needs, with Greeks being in a worse position compared to other Europeans, as the healthcare in Greece is facing serious challenges.
According to Eurostat data, three are the primary reasons for this gap in healthcare coverage: high costs, distance to the nearest clinic or hospital, and long waiting times, while figures indicate that the situation in Greece has deteriorated significantly since 2022.
Between 2020 and 2021, around 6.5% of Greeks were unable to cover their healthcare needs, compared to an EU average of about 2%, making it more than three times higher. In 2022 and 2023, this figure surged to 9% and 11.6%, respectively, now over four times the EU average.
The vast majority of individuals in Greece who cannot access necessary healthcare cite cost as the main barrier. Greece’s rate is the highest in the EU, in 2023, at 9.4% followed by Romania at 3.8%.
What is more, it is worth noting that while Greece was performing better than the EU average regarding waiting times until 2022, this trend reversed in 2023.
As expected, healthcare costs pose a greater problem for the poorest. Among those in the lowest income bracket, 18.7% are left without healthcare due to unaffordable costs. These percentages decrease as income rises, but the gap with European averages remains strikingly wide—up to ten times higher in Greece.
However what is more alarming is the fact that data shows that this issue persists even among wealthier Greeks. For instance, 2.9% of the wealthiest 20% of Greece’s population are unable to cover healthcare costs—higher than the 2.2% of the poorest 20% in the European Union.
