ELSTAT: 20.17 billion euros of retail turnover

The turnover of retail trade businesses in Greece came to 20.17 billion euros in the second quarter of 2026, according to figures released by the Hellenic Statistical Authority on Thursday 20 August. The figure corresponds to an increase of 2.8 percent compared with the same quarter of 2025, when turnover had reached 19.62 billion. The picture changes, however, once the three branches that move to their own dynamics are removed, namely vehicles, food and fuel. In that case turnover amounts to 7.20 billion euros against 7.12 billion last year, a rise of only 1.2 percent, as BusinessNews.gr, which processed the figures, points out.

The individual branches moved at very different speeds. The largest increase was recorded by the retail sale of second-hand goods in stores, at 22.8 percent year on year, followed by the retail sale of medical and orthopaedic goods in specialised stores, at 21.6 percent. Significant increases were also recorded in watches and jewellery, in carpets and floor and wall coverings, and in hardware, paint and glass. At the other end, the biggest fall was recorded in the sale of other motor vehicles, down 14.8 percent, while other retail sale in non-specialised stores retreated by 5.7 percent. The rise in second-hand goods alongside the fall in non-specialised stores describes a market in which the consumer is looking for a lower price.

The regional distribution is the element that stands out in this year’s data. The largest increase in turnover compared with the second quarter of 2025 was recorded by the Region of Epirus, at 4.9 percent, followed by Central Macedonia at 3.8 percent. Both exceeded the national average. By contrast, the only region in the country to record a decrease was Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, down 0.1 percent. The divergence between Epirus and Thrace, two areas with similar demographic characteristics and a comparable degree of dependence on the farming sector, shows that the recovery in consumption is not distributed evenly across the regions. On many islands, moreover, the cost of living remains high, as the price of unleaded petrol in the Dodecanese shows.

On the same day ELSTAT also released industry figures for June, where the general turnover index rose by 19.6 percent year on year, against a marginal decrease of 0.5 percent in June 2025. Compared with May, turnover rose by 3.8 percent. The push came mainly from abroad, with the external market strengthening by 29.8 percent and the domestic market by 14.5 percent. Exports to euro area countries rose by 47.6 percent and outside the euro area by 17.8 percent, with energy recording a rise of 153.8 percent within the euro area. The picture is not uniform across product categories, which means that a large part of the increase is due to energy and intermediate goods rather than to a broad industrial recovery.