Greece: May 2025 Balance of Travel Services in a Surplus of €1,875.8 Million

• The balance of travel services saw large surpluses in both May and the first five months of 2025.
• Travel spending surged, but the number of travellers declined in May.
• Germany led spending increases, while France saw a mixed trend.
• United States visitors spent less in May, but more over the longer term.
• Border crossings on foot suffered a decline, while flights gained popularity.
• Positive travel receipts partially offset the goods deficit.

Travel Receipts Are Up

May 2025 marked a €1,875.8 million surplus in travel services, an increase from the €1,623.9 million surplus in May 2024, according to data from the Bank of Greece. Tourists kept their wallets open, pushing May’s receipts up by 17.7% to €2,247.8 million. Payments also grew, albeit not as impressively, by 30.2% to €372.0 million.

But there’s a twist. People may have spent more, but there weren’t as many of them. The average cash spent per trip increased by 21.1%, while the number of inbound travellers decreased by 2.7%. This extra spending didn’t just look good on paper. It managed to cover 79.4% of the goods trade deficit and accounted for 84.9% of all net service receipts in May. Who says tourists aren’t useful?

Take it from the broader season: January to May 2025 saw an even fatter surplus at €3,006.9 million, beating last year’s same-period chestnut of €2,761.1 million. Receipts climbed €491.9 million to €4,352.2 million, a 12.7% rise. Payments increased in cost by €246.1 million, a 22.4% rise. Why? Inbound travellers went up by only 2.1%, but average spending per trip ballooned by 10.4%. The surplus paid off 21.9% of the goods deficit and accounted for a substantial 72.9% of overall net service receipts from January to May.

Who Coughed Up the Cash? EU Tourists, Mainly

From the EU27 club, receipts soared by 25.8% in May to €1,325.0 million. Tourists from outside the group added 6.7% more, bringing the receipts to €800 million. Euro area spenders shelled out 15.1% more, clocking in at €1,035.7 million. Not to be outdone, non-euro EU adventurers splurged 88.6% more for a sharp rise to €289.2 million.

Among countries, Germans increased their spending by 16.1% (€473.5 million), while France managed a 9.9% bump (€153.3 million). The Italians contributed a 14% rise, reaching €62.6 million. Brits handed over 8.9% more, paying €314.1 million. Americans, though, suddenly had other plans, slashing their spending by 28% (€112.5 million). Russians barely made a blip, at €5.2 million, but hey, every cent (or kopek) counts.

Over the first five months, receipts from EU visitors rose by 10.9% to €2,326.7 million, and from all others, by 15.1% to €1,813.0 million. Germans led with €771.7 million (up 9.9%), while the French jumped ship with a 7.8% drop. Italians eased back by 4.8%. From across the Channel and the Atlantic, Brits (up 13.3%) and Americans (up 15.9%) made substantial increases. Russians, still barely on the radar, reached €7.9 million.

Inbound Traveller Numbers: Up, Down, and All Around

For May 2025, inbound travellers decreased by 2.7%, reaching just under three million. Airports lured 1% more visitors, but the drive-ins at road borders saw a 21.5% drop—possibly due to boring scenery, snack prices or plain indifference. Visitors from EU27 countries decreased by 4.8%, while non-EU arrivals increased by 0.8%. Euro-area arrivals decreased by 4.5%, while non-Euro area EU visitors declined by 6.2%.

Among big spenders, German tourist numbers decreased by 0.1%, French numbers plummeted by 30.8%, and Italian arrivals declined by 12.9%. From the UK, tourist tallies sank by 9.1%. The US only fell by 0.9%. Russians, for what it’s worth, accounted for a modest 4.7 thousand.

For the January-May stretch, total inbound travellers climbed 2.1% to 7,089.2 thousand. Airports handled 6% more bodies, but road crossings lost 9.2%. EU arrivals shrank 5.1% to 3,812.5 thousand, while tourists from the rest of the globe raised the counts by 12% to 3,276.7 thousand. Euro-area tourism declined by 0.5%, and non-EU visitors to the Euro area decreased by 19.3%.

Looking at specific groups: Germans returned stronger, up 1.5% (1,080.2 thousand); French tourism tanked 27.1%; Italians were down 11.7%. British visitors increased by 6.7%, Americans by 18.1%, and Russians rose to 7,500.