The good streak for the continuation of the season in Tourism remains uncertain, however in the first five months according to the Bank of Greece, there was a 12.7% increase in travel receipts, while the travel balance recorded a surplus of €3.01 billion.
Specifically, according to provisional data from the Bank of Greece, the travel balance in May 2025 showed a surplus of €1.87 billion compared to a surplus of €1.62 billion in the corresponding month of 2024. Travel receipts recorded a 17.7% increase in May 2025, reaching €2,247.8 million compared to €1,909.6 million in the corresponding month of 2024, while travel payments also increased by 30.2% (May 2025: €372.0 million, May 2024: €285.7 million).
The rise in travel receipts is mainly due to the increase in average spending per trip by 21.1%, as inbound tourist traffic decreased by 2.7%. Net receipts from travel services offset 79.4% of the goods balance deficit and contributed 84.9% to total net receipts from services.
During January-May 2025, the travel balance showed a surplus of €3.01 billion, compared to a surplus of €2.7 billion in the corresponding period of 2024. Travel receipts increased by €491.9 million or 12.7%, reaching €4,352.2 million, while travel payments also increased by €246.1 million or 22.4%, reaching €1,345.3 million.
The increase in travel receipts came from both the increase in inbound tourist traffic by 2.1% and the strengthening of average spending per trip by 10.4%. Net receipts from travel services offset 21.9% of the goods balance deficit and contributed 72.9% to total net receipts from services.
Travel receipts
In May 2025, as mentioned earlier, travel receipts increased by 17.7% compared to the corresponding month of 2024. More specifically, receipts from EU-27 residents recorded a 25.8% increase, reaching €1,325.0 million, as did receipts from residents of other countries, which increased by 6.7% (May 2025: €800.0 million, May 2024: €749.4 million). The strengthening of receipts from EU-27 residents resulted from increases in both receipts from eurozone residents by 15.1% (May 2025: €1,035.7 million, May 2024: €900.0 million) and receipts from EU-27 countries outside the eurozone by 88.6%, reaching €289.2 million.
Specifically, regarding the most important source countries of travelers from the eurozone, receipts from Germany increased by 16.1% and reached €473.5 million, while receipts from France increased by 9.9%, reaching €153.3 million. Receipts from Italy also increased by 14.0%, reaching €62.6 million. From other countries, receipts from the United Kingdom increased by 8.9%, reaching €314.1 million, while receipts from the USA decreased by 28.0% and reached €112.5 million. Finally, receipts from Russia also increased, reaching €5.2 million.
During January-May 2025, travel receipts recorded a 12.7% increase compared to the corresponding period of 2024 and reached €4,352.2 million. This development is due to both the increase in receipts from EU-27 residents by 10.9%, which reached €2,326.7 million, and the increase in receipts from residents of other countries by 15.1%, which reached €1,813.0 million. More specifically, receipts from eurozone residents reached €1,879.8 million, increased by 3.6%, while receipts from EU-27 countries outside the eurozone increased by 57.2% and reached €446.9 million.
Specifically, receipts from Germany recorded a 9.9% increase and reached €771.7 million, while receipts from France decreased by 7.8% and reached €263.9 million. Receipts from Italy were also down by 4.8%, reaching €164.7 million. From other countries, receipts from the United Kingdom increased by 13.3%, reaching €480.6 million, while receipts from the USA also increased by 15.9% and reached €457.0 million. Finally, receipts from Russia increased to €7.9 million.
Inbound tourist traffic
Inbound tourist traffic in May 2025 reached 2,967.0 thousand travelers, down 2.7% compared to the corresponding month of 2024. Specifically, tourist traffic through airports increased by 1.0% compared to May 2024, while traffic through road border stations decreased by 21.5%. The decline in inbound tourist traffic mainly came from the decrease in tourist traffic from EU-27 countries by 4.8%, as tourist traffic from other countries increased by 0.8%. More specifically, tourist traffic from eurozone countries reached 1,406.2 thousand travelers, down 4.5%, while tourist traffic from EU-27 countries outside the eurozone also fell by 6.2%, reaching 365.3 thousand travelers.
Specifically, tourist traffic from Germany decreased by 0.1% and reached 604.7 thousand travelers, while traffic from France also declined by 30.8% to 177.6 thousand travelers. Tourist traffic from Italy also fell by 12.9%, reaching 113.6 thousand travelers. Regarding countries outside the EU-27, tourist traffic from the United Kingdom decreased by 9.1% and reached 416.2 thousand travelers, while traffic from the USA declined by 0.9% to 123.9 thousand travelers. Finally, tourist traffic from Russia increased to 4.7 thousand travelers.
During January-May 2025, inbound tourist traffic increased by 2.1% and reached 7,089.2 thousand travelers, compared to 6,943.9 thousand travelers in the corresponding period of 2024. Specifically, tourist traffic through airports recorded a 6.0% increase, while traffic through road border stations decreased by 9.2%. During the reviewed period, tourist traffic from EU-27 countries reached 3,812.5 thousand travelers, showing a 5.1% decrease compared to the corresponding period of 2024, while tourist traffic from other countries increased by 12.0% and reached 3,276.7 thousand travelers. Tourist traffic from eurozone countries declined by 0.5%, while tourist traffic from EU-27 countries outside the eurozone decreased by 19.3%.
Specifically, tourist traffic from Germany showed a 1.5% increase and reached 1,080.2 thousand travelers, while traffic from France decreased by 27.1% and reached 342.2 thousand travelers. Tourist traffic from Italy also fell by 11.7%, reaching 311.9 thousand travelers.
Regarding countries outside the EU-27, tourist traffic from the United Kingdom increased by 6.7% and reached 710.8 thousand travelers, while traffic from the USA increased by 18.1% to 463.4 thousand travelers. Finally, tourist traffic from Russia increased to 7.5 thousand travelers.
