Greek households paid increased taxes on wages and social security contributions during 2023, deviating even further from the OECD average. This was attributed to the fact that tax systems were not aligned with high inflation rates.
Single worker
More specifically, the tax wedge for the average single worker in Greece increased by 0.5 percentage points to 38.5% in 2023 from 38.0% in 2022. The OECD average tax wedge in 2023 was 34.8% compared with 34.7% in 2022. In 2023, Greece had the 18th highest tax wedge among the 38 OECD member countries.
In Greece, income tax and employer social security contributions combine to account for 71% of the total tax wedge, compared with 77% of the total OECD average tax wedge.
One-earner married couple with two children
The tax wedge for a worker with children may be lower than for a worker on the same income without children, since most OECD countries provide benefits to families with children through cash transfers and preferential tax provisions.
Greece had the 6th highest tax wedge in the OECD for an average married worker with two children at 37.1% in 2023, which compares with the OECD average of 25.7%. The country occupied the same position in 2022.
Child related benefits and tax provisions tend to reduce the tax wedge for workers with children compared with the average single worker. In Greece in 2023, this reduction (1.4 percentage points) was less than the OECD average (9.1 percentage points).
In Greece, the tax wedge for the average single worker decreased by 0.2 percentage points from 38.7% to 38.5% between 2000 and 2023. During the same period, the average tax wedge across the OECD decreased by 1.4 percentage points from 36.2% to 34.8%.
Between 2009 and 2023, the tax wedge for the average single worker decreased by 2.7 percentage points in Greece. During this same period, the tax wedge for the average single worker across the OECD increased slowly to 35.3% in 2013 and 2014 before decreasing back to 34.8% in 2023.
