Greece.
EU fund gains tax-free — and a 7% deal for arriving pensioners.
Price it in your money
Tell me where you live now and what you spend a month, and every cost here becomes your number — the same life, priced country by country, in your own currency.
A guide, not a quote. I move your monthly spend by each country’s official price level (Eurostat and the World Bank, whole-economy, EU-27 = 100) — no exchange rates, so it stays in your own currency. But averages hide rent and the city you pick, and changing country is rarely a straight swap. Read these as the right ballpark, then price the real thing.
EU-27 = 100 · 2025. Living in Greece runs about 13% cheaper than the EU average.
Eurostat (prc_ppp_ind) / World Bank, 2025, CC BY 4.0. Whole-economy price level — country averages hide big regional and rent spread.
A €2,500 a month reference life runs about €2,190 a month here — roughly €26,280 a year, and a ×30 number near €788,000.
The reference life the calculators use, scaled by the index above — the same whole-economy figure, a guide not a quote.
Where in Europe
Mediterranean — hot dry summers, mild bright winters.
a new-build asking price
in Athens — about €890/mo for 70 m²
a roof here, against the EU-27 average
In Greece, rents up 13% since 2015.
Read these as the shape, not the price. Housing is the most divergent cost in Europe, and a national average buries the thing that actually decides it — the city, the street, new-build against old. Treat it as a ballpark, then price the real place. Not property or mortgage advice.
Buy price and rent: Deloitte Property Index 2025 (14th ed., 2024 data). Level vs the EU: Eurostat comparative price level for housing (prc_ppp_ind, EU-27 = 100, 2024). Trend: Eurostat house price index and actual-rentals index (2015 = 100, 2025).
The rules that matter for an exit.
Gains on EU/EEA UCITS funds and ETFs are exempt from income tax for residents. Gains on individual listed shares are exempt too when you hold under 0.5% of the company — a small levy on the sale amount applies instead — while non-EU funds (US-domiciled ETFs included) fall under the 15% securities rate. Dividends take a flat 5%.
None on portfolios — Greece's annual property tax is a real-estate matter.
None on private portfolios.
Two standing deals for movers: a €100,000-a-year lump-sum regime for wealthy new residents (tied to investing €500,000 in Greece), and a flat 7% on ALL foreign income — not just the pension — for foreign pensioners relocating, running fifteen years. Weather, not climate: confirm in writing, close to the move.
Mild for close family — the spouse, children and parents get €150,000 each tax-free, then 1–10%; distant heirs pay 20–40%.
Nothing moved for investors in 2026 — but the fund exemption is the load-bearing fact here; have a Greek adviser confirm your exact fund's treatment before you count on it.
Can you actually move here?
Hold an EU or EEA passport and the door isn't the question — freedom of movement covers the move itself. The clocks and the tax-residency rules below still run for you.
With your passport, skip the doors — the clocks and the tax-residency rules are what matter for you.
No EU passport means one of the doors on the left — each checked against the authority that issues it.
€3,500/mo for the main applicant, +20% for a spouse, +15% per child (set 2024)
Open, tiered — €800k in Athens, Thessaloniki and the famous islands; €400k elsewhere; €250k for conversions and listed buildings. Short-let renting of the property is banned.
permanent residency at 5 yrs · dual allowed · Greek at B1 + a history-and-civics exam
and you're resident from your first day of presence; a centre of living interests also counts
Greece prices its doors plainly: €3,500 a month of passive income for the FIP permit, or a golden visa that now starts at €800,000 where the tourists actually go. The catch is the middle years — public health cover is contribution-based, so a non-working resident stays on private insurance the whole way. The passport is quicker than Iberia's: seven years.
Keeping the permit: guides put renewal at 183+ days a year in Greece — an official pin is still missing
The FIP's 183-day renewal rule rests on dated secondary guides, not an official page — treat it as real, but re-verify before relying on it.
Check it yourself: Ministry of Migration — the FIP permit · PwC — Greece tax residence
Getting-in rules checked July 2026. They move faster than tax law — confirm the current rule with the authority before you plan a move around it. Education, not immigration advice.
Contribution-based: public cover follows work or self-employed contributions — a non-working FIP or golden-visa resident doesn't qualify, and private insurance is a standing permit condition the whole way.
Private cover: private plans run roughly €50–100 a month basic to €250+ comprehensive (2026 guide, not age-specific).
Healthcare access checked July 2026. Systems are stable but details shift — confirm before you rely on them. Education, not health-insurance advice.
Common questions
- Are ETF gains taxed in Greece?
- Gains on EU/EEA UCITS funds and ETFs are exempt from income tax for residents, while non-EU funds (US-domiciled ETFs included) fall under the 15% securities rate. That fund exemption is the load-bearing fact here, so have a Greek adviser confirm your exact fund's treatment before you count on it.
- How are dividends taxed in Greece?
- Dividends take a flat 5%.
- Is there a special tax deal for pensioners relocating to Greece?
- There's a flat 7% on all foreign income — not just the pension — for foreign pensioners relocating, running fifteen years. Treat any special regime as weather, not climate: confirm it in writing, close to the move.
- Does Greece have a wealth tax or an exit tax on investments?
- No wealth tax on portfolios — Greece's annual property tax is a real-estate matter — and no exit tax on private portfolios.
- Can an American or a Brit retire early in Greece?
- Yes — the door is the FIP permit: the financially-independent-person route — a three-year, renewable permit for living on stable passive income. The bar is €3,500/mo for the main applicant, +20% for a spouse, +15% per child (set 2024). An EU or EEA passport skips the visa question entirely — freedom of movement covers the move itself. Rules like these move — confirm with the immigration authority before planning around them.
- How long until a Greece passport?
- 7 years of legal residence is the general naturalisation rule, with Greek at B1 + a history-and-civics exam. Dual citizenship is allowed. Permanent residency usually comes at 5 years.
Run your own numbers.
The Exit Calculator
Years to your number, at your savings rate.
OpenWhere You Live
What an annual wealth tax does to the maths — illustrative, deliberately.
OpenThe Geoarbitrage Map
The same life, priced across 58 countries.
OpenThe whole system — wrappers, funds, withdrawal, the blank page — is in the guide: The European FIRE guide
None of this is tax or investment advice — it's education, kept deliberately at the level that survives fact-checking. Rules shift with every budget round; the specifics of your situation belong with a licensed adviser in your country. I'm happily not one.
This page was last verified against official sources on 8 July 2026. What's changed on the map
Know a figure here that’s wrong or out of date? Point me to the line and a source — every correction gets checked, and it’s how the map stays right.
Report a correctionBring me a challenge.
The Exit Audit, then ninety minutes: a straight verdict, real alternatives with their pros and cons, and your first move. If you want someone to nod along, I’m the wrong person to pay.
Ninety minutes, online, €600 — the Exit Audit included.