Greeks paid more than €2.19 billion out of pocket for medicines in 2025, with the private bill increasing by about €245 million in just one year. As patients are being asked to spend increasingly more, the latest data on the pharmaceutical market reveal another striking trend: the market is growing in value even as the number of drug packages being distributed is declining.
The new data for 2025 put total private pharmaceutical spending at €2.195 billion, up from about €1.95 billion in 2024. That represents an increase of 12.6%, significantly exceeding earlier estimates that household spending would cross the €2 billion threshold.
The figure does not refer only to the familiar “copayment” that insured patients pay at the pharmacy. Private pharmaceutical spending includes the statutory copayment and the additional charge resulting from the difference between the retail price and the reimbursement price, as well as medicines that are not covered by social insurance or are paid for entirely by citizens themselves.
The €844 million in copayments
In 2025, insured patients paid €439 million through the statutory copayment — 0%, 10% or 25% of the reimbursement price — and an additional €405 million because of the difference between the retail and reimbursement prices. These two categories alone therefore cost patients €844 million.
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This is also one of the most significant changes compared with 2024. The statutory copayment was estimated at €432 million that year, while the additional charge resulting from the difference between the two prices stood at €369 million.
These charges can lead patients to stop taking even essential medicines. As Memi Tsekoura, president of the Greek Patients’ Association, points out, “there is a dimension that is discussed less and that we encounter increasingly often through our contact with patients and the member organizations of the Greek Patients’ Association: the financial burden. When the copayment for necessary medicines accumulates and reaches high levels each month, some patients are forced to space out their doses or even temporarily stop their treatment because they cannot cover the cost.”
The rest of the bill is even larger. Citizens spent €425 million on nonprescription medicines and €352 million on prescription medicines on the Negative List, which are not reimbursed. Sales of these medicines have increased significantly, partly because of sales of anti-obesity drugs.
There is also a third category that by itself approaches €600 million: prescription medicines that patients chose to pay for in full without using their insurance coverage. The related spending reached €574 million in 2025.
As a result, direct payments for nonprescription medicines, Negative List medicines and prescription medicines purchased entirely out of pocket totaled about €1.35 billion.
More euros, fewer packages
At the same time, the latest IQVIA data for the Hellenic Association of Pharmaceutical Companies (SFEE) show that the market’s upward trajectory has continued beyond the end of 2025.
In the 12-month period from July 2025 through June 2026, the retail pharmaceutical market reached €5.24 billion in value, marking a 6% increase from the previous 12-month period. This figure does not include medicines covered by Law 3816.
The striking element is the volume: while the market’s value increased by 6%, the number of units sold fell by 1.2%, to about 428 million. In other words, more money does not mean more medicines.
The trend becomes even clearer when the market is examined over a longer period. According to IQVIA, the value of this retail market was €4.65 billion in 2023, rose to about €4.80 billion in 2024 and reached €5.08 billion in 2025. In the 12 months ending in June 2026, it had risen to €5.24 billion.
What is paid for and what is reimbursed
Of the €5.24 billion retail market, about €4.31 billion corresponds to reimbursable products and €928 million to the nonreimbursed market.
Even within the market for reimbursable products, however, not every unit sold is actually reimbursed. IQVIA estimates that the value of the units actually reimbursed during the latest 12-month period exceeded €3.7 billion. The remainder consists of medicines paid for entirely out of pocket by citizens.
The figures ultimately paint a picture of a double pressure.
On one side, the bill falling directly on households clearly surpassed €2 billion for the first time, reaching €2.195 billion. On the other, the total value of the retail pharmaceutical market continues to rise without a corresponding increase in the number of medicines being distributed.
2025, therefore, was not simply another year of growth for the pharmaceutical market. It was the year in which the private drug bill reached €2.2 billion, about €245 million more than a year earlier.
And the 2026 data show that pressure on the market’s value has not eased. It is continuing.