Greece recorded a surprise primary surplus of €11.4 billion, or 4.8% of GDP, in 2024, according to figures released by ELSTAT, paving the way for support measures from the government.

This confirms earlier reports from protothema.gr, which indicated a strong fiscal overperformance, far exceeding the anticipated €500 million surplus.

As newmoney.gr reported, “For the first time in years, in 2024, Greece appears to have completely eliminated government deficits, even achieving an overall surplus (not just primary) of around 0.2% or possibly even 0.3%.”

The official 2024 data from ELSTAT pleasantly surpass even the most optimistic forecasts.

Reality exceeded all expectations: the primary surplus did not remain at the already ambitious government budget forecast of 2.5% of GDP (initially targeted at 2.1%), but soared to an astounding 4.8%! This nearly doubled performance translates to more than €11 billion.

And the surprise doesn’t end there: instead of a marginal deficit (-0.1% of GDP) predicted in the November budget, there is now a solid overall General Government fiscal surplus of 1.3% of GDP.