Live and Invest Overseas
The Best Places To Retire In 2025 Report
FREE REPORT: THE BEST PLACES TO RETIRE IN 2025
We Value Your Privacy! We will not share your email address with anyone else, period.
  • Home
  • Countries

    Top Destinations:

    Whether you’re looking for fun and sun, a peaceful retirement, or the chance to earn some extra income, you’ve got a real world of opportunity open to you… In short, we’ve done our best to narrow down your best options, but only you can decide the right country for you.

    • Spain
    • Portugal
    • Panama
    • Belize
    • Colombia
    • Cyprus
    • Mexico
    • France
    • Montenegro
    • Browse All Countries

    Best For:

    • The Best Places To Retire
    • Health Care Abroad
    • Cost Of Living
    • Investing in Real Estate
    • Establishing Residency
    • Gun Laws In The World
    • English-Speaking Countries
    • Safest Places For Retirement
    • Best Places In Latin America
  • Budgets

    How Much Will It Cost You To Live Overseas?

    The only honest answer is, we have no idea. And neither does anyone else. The only one who can answer that question is you. Here’s the most important thing to understand about budgeting your new life overseas…

    Super Cheap

    • Chitré, Panama
    • Santa Marta, Colombia
    • Phuket, Thailand
    • Dumaguete, The Philippines

    Cheap

    • Medellin, Colombia
    • Boquete, Panama
    • Kyrenia, Cyprus
    • Hua Hin, Thailand
    • The Algarve, Portugal

    Affordable

    • Valencia, Spain
    • Cascais, Portugal
    • Las Terrenas, The DR
    • Pisa, Italy
    • La Rochelle, France
    • Mazatlán, Mexico

    Luxury

    • Ambergris Caye, Belize
    • Kotor, Montenegro
    • The Panama City Beaches
    • Paris, France
  • Resources

    Global Living

    • Living & Retiring Overseas
    • Raising A Family Abroad
    • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
    • Offshore & Diversification

    Making Money

    • International Real Estate
    • Banking
    • Employment
    • Investing

    Follow Us:

    • Meet Our Experts
  • Real Estate

    Buying Real Estate For Cashflow

    • Discover tips and strategies used by global property investing veterans

    Explore Our Latest Posts

    • Learn how to invest and purchase property abroad…

    Go To The Overseas Property Alert Site

    • How To Become Independently Wealthy And Fund The Lifestyle Of Your Dreams
  • Conferences

    Upcoming Events

    • Explore Our Events Site

    Live and Invest In Spain Conference

    Offshore Wealth Summit

    Greece Workshop

    VALENCIA, SPAIN

    Sep. 17-19, 2025

    PANAMA CITY, PANAMA

    Oct. 15-17, 2025

    VIRTUAL

    Nov. 13, 2025

    Learn More About This Event
    Learn More About This Event
    PRE-REGISTER
    Learn More About This Event
    PRE-REGISTER
    • MORE EVENTS

    Contact Our Events Team

    Toll-Free U.S. and Canada:
    1 (888) 627 8834
    From Outside North America:
    1 (443) 599 1221
    Working Hours
    Monday – Friday 08:00 am – 17:00 pm EST.

    Reach us with your questions by email at: events@liveandinvestoverseas.com

  • Store

    Unlock The World

    • Access Your Library

    Overseas Havens Reports

    • Expats' comprehensive destination guides

    Conference Kits

    • Hours of coverage  from our latests conferences

    Lahardan Books

    • Titles on living and investing around the world
    • Explore Our Store
    Your passport to a life well-lived abroad

    Services

    overseas living letter offers affordable retirement guidance
    The Simon Letter Wealth Protection Insights
    Global Property Advisor Global Investment Opportunities

    Our Customer Service team is here to assist with any questions or concerns CustomerService@LiveandInvestOverseas.com

  • My Library
Live and Invest Overseas
  • Home
  • Countries

    Top Destinations:

    Whether you’re looking for fun and sun, a peaceful retirement, or the chance to earn some extra income, you’ve got a real world of opportunity open to you… In short, we’ve done our best to narrow down your best options, but only you can decide the right country for you.

    • Spain
    • Portugal
    • Panama
    • Belize
    • Colombia
    • Cyprus
    • Mexico
    • France
    • Montenegro
    • Browse All Countries

    Best For:

    • The Best Places To Retire
    • Health Care Abroad
    • Cost Of Living
    • Investing in Real Estate
    • Establishing Residency
    • Gun Laws In The World
    • English-Speaking Countries
    • Safest Places For Retirement
    • Best Places In Latin America
  • Budgets

    How Much Will It Cost You To Live Overseas?

    The only honest answer is, we have no idea. And neither does anyone else. The only one who can answer that question is you. Here’s the most important thing to understand about budgeting your new life overseas…

    Super Cheap

    • Chitré, Panama
    • Santa Marta, Colombia
    • Phuket, Thailand
    • Dumaguete, The Philippines

    Cheap

    • Medellin, Colombia
    • Boquete, Panama
    • Kyrenia, Cyprus
    • Hua Hin, Thailand
    • The Algarve, Portugal

    Affordable

    • Valencia, Spain
    • Cascais, Portugal
    • Las Terrenas, The DR
    • Pisa, Italy
    • La Rochelle, France
    • Mazatlán, Mexico

    Luxury

    • Ambergris Caye, Belize
    • Kotor, Montenegro
    • The Panama City Beaches
    • Paris, France
  • Resources

    Global Living

    • Living & Retiring Overseas
    • Raising A Family Abroad
    • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
    • Offshore & Diversification

    Making Money

    • International Real Estate
    • Banking
    • Employment
    • Investing

    Follow Us:

    • Meet Our Experts
  • Real Estate

    Buying Real Estate For Cashflow

    • Discover tips and strategies used by global property investing veterans

    Explore Our Latest Posts

    • Learn how to invest and purchase property abroad…

    Go To The Overseas Property Alert Site

    • How To Become Independently Wealthy And Fund The Lifestyle Of Your Dreams
  • Conferences

    Upcoming Events

    • Explore Our Events Site

    Live and Invest In Spain Conference

    Offshore Wealth Summit

    Greece Workshop

    VALENCIA, SPAIN

    Sep. 17-19, 2025

    PANAMA CITY, PANAMA

    Oct. 15-17, 2025

    VIRTUAL

    Nov. 13, 2025

    Learn More About This Event
    Learn More About This Event
    PRE-REGISTER
    Learn More About This Event
    PRE-REGISTER
    • MORE EVENTS

    Contact Our Events Team

    Toll-Free U.S. and Canada:
    1 (888) 627 8834
    From Outside North America:
    1 (443) 599 1221
    Working Hours
    Monday – Friday 08:00 am – 17:00 pm EST.

    Reach us with your questions by email at: events@liveandinvestoverseas.com

  • Store

    Unlock The World

    • Access Your Library

    Overseas Havens Reports

    • Expats' comprehensive destination guides

    Conference Kits

    • Hours of coverage  from our latests conferences

    Lahardan Books

    • Titles on living and investing around the world
    • Explore Our Store
    Your passport to a life well-lived abroad

    Services

    overseas living letter offers affordable retirement guidance
    The Simon Letter Wealth Protection Insights
    Global Property Advisor Global Investment Opportunities

    Our Customer Service team is here to assist with any questions or concerns CustomerService@LiveandInvestOverseas.com

  • My Library
Live and Invest Overseas
 Moving Out Of The U.S?

THE 10 BEST PLACES TO RETIRE IN 2025

the 10 best places to retire in 2025

PLUS: A SPECIAL BONUS DESTINATION

Simply sign up to receive the FREE daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and we’ll immediately email you our editors’ latest research report… absolutely FREE

We Value Your Privacy! We will not share your email address with anyone else, period.

Home Countries Greece

Greece Has A New Groove

by Live And Invest Overseas
Oct 13, 2023
in Greece, In Focus: Europe
0 0
Symi town cityscape, Dodecanese islands, Greece. moving to greece

AdobeStock/Mistervlad

Thinking about moving to Greece?

Many Americans are considering relocating to this historic and beautiful country—thanks at least in part to its Golden Visa program. Applications to the program from U.S. citizens have increased more than sevenfold.

The Golden Visa gives you, along with immediate family members, five years of residence, plus free travel in the Schengen Zone. The visa can be renewed and there’s the potential for eventual Greek citizenship.

The visa program can be accessed with a relatively modest investment; a property purchase of between 250,000 and 500,000 euros unlocks access.

While the visa allows for travel around Europe during the five-year residency, it requires you to live in Greece. For this reason, those considering the visa should stay on top of economic developments in the country.

After all, if there are reasons to think that the economy is unstable, the attractiveness of the visa program may not be as significant as if the economy is stable.

By instability, I do not mean that the country will experience a recession in the future. All countries experience recessions from time to time.

By instability, I mean chronic imbalances in the economy that could cause a serious crisis and would make living there pretty unpleasant.

Start Your New Life Overseas Today!
Sign up for our free daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and we'll send you a FREE report on the 10 Best Places To Retire In 2025.
We Value Your Privacy! We will not share your email address with anyone else, period.

Not So Long Ago, “Greek Tragedy” Was The World’s Most Popular Headline

Let’s start with recent history. You probably remember that Greece experienced a serious debt crisis after the global financial crisis that shook the world economy in 2008.

At the height of the crisis, in 2011, the yield on a 10-year Greek government bond reached nearly 30%—making it basically impossible for Greece to borrow on the international money markets.

Eventually a bailout was arranged by the European Union, but it came with harsh conditions.

To better understand the potential risks to the Greek economy moving forward, it is important to understand why this crisis arose. Crises like this do not come out of nowhere.

For government debt yields to reach nearly 30%, you need deep structural problems. Global markets do not simply price debt in such an aggressive

way because too many market participants got out of the wrong side of the bed one morning.

Greece’s most obvious problem in the run-up to 2008 was its enormous government borrowing. Between 2001, when Greece joined the euro, and 2007, just before global markets collapsed, Greece ran very large government deficits every year.

In this period the government deficit never fell below 5.5% of GDP and at one point rose to 8.8%. These are deficit levels that are typically associated with an economy in a deep recession, yet Greece ran them in the 2000s while its economy was growing. This was not a case of borrowing in a crisis, but rather an addiction to debt that signalled a deep underlying imbalance.

When we dig a little deeper the nature of that imbalance becomes clear.

During this period the country ran absolutely enormous trade deficits. Between 2001 and 2007 the Greek current account balance never fell below 6.8% of GDP and even reached a peak of 15.2% of GDP.

Start Your New Life Overseas Today!
Sign up for our free daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and we'll send you a FREE report on the 10 Best Places To Retire In 2025.
We Value Your Privacy! We will not share your email address with anyone else, period.
What this tells us is that Greece was not competitive and was living beyond its means. It was sucking in far more imports than it was selling exports, and to finance this addiction to foreign goods it had to go massively into debt.

In these years, the living standards of the Greek people rose sharply as huge quantities of imports flowed into the country, but the bills piled up year after year.

This was reflected in Greek wages. For a poorer European country like Greece to try to be competitive against economic behemoths like Germany, lower wages are needed.

The lower wages ensure that the local goods are cheap for foreigners to buy and that domestic consumers cannot buy foreign goods that they should not be able to afford.

Yet in the party years of 2001-2007 Greek wages went gangbusters, with total compensation rising nearly 41%. Meanwhile, the actual productivity of workers rose only around 17%.

With these imbalances in the 2000s it is no surprise that, when the global financial markets panicked in 2008, the scales fell from their eyes and investors realized that Greece was an economic basket case.

Start Your New Life Overseas Today!
Sign up for our free daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and we'll send you a FREE report on the 10 Best Places To Retire In 2025.
We Value Your Privacy! We will not share your email address with anyone else, period.

Greece’s Hard-Won Stability

The $64 million question then is: How does the Greek economy look today?

For the average Greek, not so good. Since 2012, when the bailouts began, wages have fallen off a cliff, with total compensation falling almost 21%.

Between 2012 and today, wages have only actually risen in two years. The Greek people have seen a terrible hit to their living standards.

Has this decline in living standards led to economic stability?

The first place to look is at government borrowing. In 2016, the Greek government started running a surplus for the first time in living memory. It maintained this surplus right up until 2020, when the pandemic hit, and the lockdowns started.

Since then, the government has been running deficits, but they have been falling despite the war in Ukraine and the hit to European energy prices. This has been achieved by a massive decline in government spending which fell from around 12 billion euros in 2008 to around 9 billion euros today.

So, everything on the government budget front looks pretty good.

The trade situation looks much more balanced too. Between 2013 and 2020, the current account deficit fell as low as 0.7% of GDP and never exceeded 2.9% of GDP. This was achieved by a remarkable rise in exports, which increased around 166% between 2008 and today.

Start Your New Life Overseas Today!
Sign up for our free daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and we'll send you a FREE report on the 10 Best Places To Retire In 2025.
We Value Your Privacy! We will not share your email address with anyone else, period.

 

Much of this can be accounted for by the enormous fall in wages, which made Greek goods and services much more attractive on European markets.

Greece today is stable, albeit much poorer than it was before the crisis. The problem here is that it does not seem to be growing very fast and therefore cannot make up for the losses that it suffered during the crisis.

This is clear in the GDP statistics. In 2022, the Greek economy was still 23% smaller than it was at its peak in 2007.

It is interesting to compare Greece with Ireland in this regard. Both countries experienced financial crises after 2008 and both countries required bailouts, but whereas Greece stagnated, Ireland took off like a rocket.

Whereas Greece has seen a 23% decline in the size of its economy since before its crisis, Ireland has seen an increase in the size of its economy by 28%.

The sad reality is that Greece is simply not a very dynamic economy and it is now trapped in a cycle of low growth.

This means that Greece is not a very compelling place for a foreign investor. Yes, there are sure to be opportunities in Greece, but these are going to be harder to come across than in a rapidly growing economy like Ireland.

But this does not mean that Greece is an unattractive place to live. If a non-EU citizen wanted to get access to Europe via Greece, or just wanted somewhere to relax or retire, Greece is very attractive because it is relatively cheap.

Once again, a comparison with Ireland is instructive. Consider the property markets in both countries. At the very high-end of the market, there is currently a very attractive four-bedroom detached house in Dublin that is 4,478 square feet for sale priced at 2.795 million euros.

A roughly equivalent property in Athens, a five-bedroom detached house with 5,490 square feet in space, is currently selling for 1.5 million euros.

The same dynamic is evident at the lower end of both markets. For 250,000 euros in Dublin, you can get a small, one-bedroom apartment with around 700 square feet in floorspace.

In Greece, on the other hand, for the same price you can get a semi-detached three-bedroom home in Crete with 2,067 square feet in floorspace or an historic two-bedroom apartment in Athens with 1,390 square feet in floorspace.

Add to this the low wages—and hence low costs for groceries, restaurants, and so on—and Greece looks like a very attractive place to live.

Real Estate In Greece

And Greek property may not be a bad investment. Since 2018 Greek house prices have risen 45%. (Although, this increase does raise the fear that there might be a bubble in the Greek property market, especially with central banks now rising interest rates.) If you’re interested in purchasing a property in Greece, it might be worth monitoring this situation and trying to get a good feel for the property market.

The Verdict

All in all, Greece certainly has its upsides. Its economy does not look particularly dynamic. But the instabilities that plagued the country in the past seem to now be under control.

There is no reason to think that Greece is any more prone to a serious economic crisis than any other country. Meanwhile the country is cheap relative to other European countries.

And, perhaps most important, it is a fantastically beautiful place with a rich history, phenomenal beaches, and wonderful weather. It is also very safe.

With a homicide rate of 0.68 it is the 9th safest country in Europe and has only 10% the murders of the United States. Greece has a lot to offer.

Sincerely,

Philip Pilkington

Contributor, Simon Letter

Tags: golden visa residency programGreeceMove abroadmove to Greece
Share83Tweet52
Live And Invest Overseas

Live And Invest Overseas

Live and Invest Overseas is the world's savviest source for top opportunities to live better, retire in style, invest for profit, do business, and own real estate overseas. Established in 2008, the Live and Invest Overseas' editors and correspondents have more experience researching and reporting on top opportunities for living well, investing for profit, doing business, and owning real estate around the world than anyone else you'll find.

Start Your New Life Overseas Today!
Sign up for our free daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and we'll send you a FREE report on The 10 Best Places To Retire In 2025.

We Value Your Privacy! We will not share your email address with anyone else, period.
Our Expertise Unlocks The World

quick links

  • Best Places To Live
  • Best Places To Retire
  • Finding A Job Overseas
  • Real Estate

LIOS Resources

  • New To LIOS
  • Ask An Expert
  • Media Center
  • Contact Us
  • FAQs
the 10 best places to retire in 2025
Sign up for our free daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and get your FREE REPORT: The 10 Best Places To Retire Overseas In 2025

We Value Your Privacy! We will not share your email address with anyone else, period.

As seen in

US Media Logos

© 2008 – Live and Invest Overseas™ – All Rights Reserved.

About Us / Contact Us / Privacy Policy / Terms / Unsubscribe
Facebook-f X-twitter Youtube Linkedin-in Instagram

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
HOME

Top Countries

  • Spain
  • Portugal
  • Panama
  • Belize
  • Colombia
  • Cyprus
  • Mexico
  • France
  • Montenegro

Best For:

  • Health Care Abroad
  • Retirement Living
  • Cost Of Living
  • Investing in Real Estate
  • Establishing Residency
  • Gun Ownership
  • English Speakers
  • Safety
BROWSE ALL COUNTRIES

Budgets

How Much Will It Cost
To Live Overseas?

Super Cheap

  • Chitré, Panama
  • Santa Marta, Colombia
  • Phuket, Thailand
  • Dumaguete, The Philippines

Cheap

  • Medellin, Colombia
  • Boquete, Panama
  • Kyrenia, Cyprus
  • Hua Hin, Thailand
  • The Algarve, Portugal

Affordable

  • Valencia, Spain
  • Cascais, Portugal
  • Las Terrenas, The DR
  • Pisa, Italy
  • La Rochelle, France
  • Mazatlán, Mexico

Luxury

  • Ambergris Caye, Belize
  • Kotor, Montenegro
  • The Panama City Beaches
  • Paris, France

Resources

Global Living

  • Living & Retiring Overseas
  • Raising A Family Abroad
  • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
  • Offshore & Diversification

Making Money

  • International Real Estate
  • Banking
  • Employment
  • Investing
Meet Our Experts

Real Estate

Overseas Property Alert 

 

How To Become Independently Wealthy And Fund The Lifestyle Of Your Dreams

VISIT SITE

Buying Real Estate For Cashflow

 

Discover tips and strategies used by global property investing veterans

READ MORE

Explore Our Latest Posts

 

Learn how to invest and purchase property abroad…

EXPLORE

Conferences

Live and Invest In Spain Conference

VALENCIA, SPAIN Sep. 17-19, 2025
Learn More About This Event

Offshore Wealth Summit

PANAMA CITY, PANAMA Oct. 15-17, 2025
Learn More About This Event
PRE-REGISTER

GREECE WORKSHOP

VIRTUAL Nov. 13, 2025
Learn More About This Event
PRE-REGISTER
MORE EVENTS

Contact Our Events Team:

Toll-Free U.S. and Canada:
1 (888) 627 8834

From Outside North America:
1 (443) 599 1221

Working Hours
Monday – Friday 08:00 am – 17:00 pm EST.

Reach us with your questions by email at: events@liveandinvestoverseas.com

Store

Overseas Havens Reports

  • Expats' comprehensive destination guides

Conference Kits

  • Hours of coverage  from our latests conferences

Lahardan Books

  • Titles on living and investing around the world

Services

  • Overseas Living Letter: Affordable Retirement Guidance
  • The Simon Letter: Wealth Protection Insights
  • Global Property Advisor: Global Investment Opportunitites
VISIT OUR STORE

Free Report

THE 10 BEST PLACES TO RETIRE IN 2025

FREE REPORT: The 10 Best Places To retire in 2025

Sign up to receive the FREE daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter and we’ll immediately email you our editors’ latest research report…

We Value Your Privacy! We will not share your email address with anyone else, period.

LIBRARY

Follow Us:

© 2008 - Live and Invest Overseas - All Rights Reserved.

RETIRE OVERSEAS AND LIVE LIKE ROYALTY

Sign up for FREE to learn how. Plus, check out our FREE report on THE 10 BEST PLACES TO RETIRE


We Value Your Privacy! We will not share your email address with anyone else, period.

RETIRE OVERSEAS AND LIVE LIKE ROYALTY

Sign up for FREE and learn how to live the good life on a modest budget, find bargain property, and more. Plus, check out our free report on the 10 BEST PLACES TO RETIRE.

We Value Your Privacy! We will not share your email address with anyone else, period.