A new report by KEFiM records a major drop in productivity in the accommodation and food service sectors, at a time when tourism is at its most competitive phase. What the data shows and what it means for Greek hospitality.
A negative distinction for the Greek economy in terms of productivity emerges in KEFiMs latest report. Despite a partial recovery in recent years, Greeces labor productivity indicators remain significantly lower than in 2009, the year the crisis began.
In 2024, productivity per hour worked is roughly 14% lower, while productivity per employee lags even further behind, about 18% below 2009 levels. Greece is the exception among crisis-hit countries, as none of its key productivity indicators have returned to 2009 levels.
At the center of the comparison between todays (2024) labor productivity and that of 2009 (base: 100 units) is the trade, transport, accommodation, and food service sectorfields that underpin Greek tourism activity. According to the report, productivity in these sectors stands at 61.47 units, corresponding to a 38.5% drop compared to 2009. This is the largest decrease among all major economic sectors, confirming that Greek hospitality operates with high demands but low output per employee.
TABLE
Real labor productivity per employee in the trade, transport, accommodation, and food service sectors from 2009 to 2024
The productivity picture across other sectors shows that the pressure on accommodation and food service is not temporary. Professional and administrative services have declined by 37%, information and communication by 21%, while construction is at 13%. By contrast, the primary sector shows a modest 2%, industry 1.3%, and the only increase is seen in financial services (+7%).
The analysis of productivity by business size is also of particular interest, given that the tourism sector is dominated by small and very small enterprises. Companies with 19 employees are at 84.74 units in 2023, about 15% below 2009 levels. Even lower are companies with 1049 employees, with the latest available measurements from 2021 placing them at 55 unitsa 45% drop. In contrast, larger firmsespecially those employing 50249 peopleshow an improved picture (102 units, +2%), while very large companies (250+) are only marginally lower than in 2009.
It is worth noting that in terms of contribution to the Greek economy, trade, transport, accommodation, and food service are the sectors with the largest share of GDP. For these sectors, value added as a percentage of Greeces GDP in 2024 stands at 21.4% (0.6 compared to 2019), versus 16.9% in the EU.
What this means for Greek tourism
For tourism, the reports findings have a direct impact on the discussion about job quality, staffing adequacy, and the sustainability of the Greek hospitality model. The significant productivity lag in accommodation and food service means that the sector continues to rely heavily on labor-intensive work, at a time when the international market is moving toward models with greater technological support, automation, and upgraded skills.
At the same time, the consistently better performance of larger enterprises shows that economies of scale, structured organization, and investment in training and technology offer a real advantage. By contrast, small accommodation unitsthe backbone of Greek tourismstruggle to increase productivity even in an environment of record-high arrivals.
