2025 was a year of excellent financial performance for the Athens Stock Exchange; earnings were supported by strong economic growth, fiscal stability, and growing investor confidence, placing Greece among the world’s best-performing stock markets in 2025.

The year’s most significant development was the acquisition of a qualifying holding in the HELLENIC EXCHANGES-ATHEX STOCK EXCHANGE S.A. (“ATHEX”) by Euronext.

This milestone marks the beginning of a new chapter for the Greek capital market, allowing participants in the Greek financial markets to join a network of more than 1,700 listed companies representing over €6.5 trillion in combined market capitalization, one of the most substantial pools of equity financing worldwide. Greek issuers, investors and intermediaries will benefit from increased liquidity, enhanced execution quality and strengthened market connectivity through the migration of Greek securities to Euronext’s state-of-the-art trading platform.

Through Euronext’s harmonized listing framework, Athens becomes a strategic gateway for Southeast European companies seeking access to European capital markets. Greek companies will gain expanded opportunities to engage with European and global investors, including through initiatives such as Euronext’s pre-IPO mentoring program, IPOready, and through simplified access to debt markets, enabling companies of all sizes to diversify and strengthen their financing sources.

Over the past year, the Athens Stock Exchange reported a series of significant achievements:

  • Α 44.30% increase in the stock market index in 2025, the second most significant one since 1998 (+102.2%)
  • The Greek stock market ranked sixth in the global stock market rankings, after the stock exchanges of Seoul, Tel Aviv, Vietnam, Madrid, and Vienna.
  • The stock market recorded its fifth consecutive year of positive returns, making it one of the best performers in Europe in 2025. Over the last five profitable years, the main stock market index has recorded gains of 162.14% (+44.30% in 2025, +13.65% in 2024, +39.08% in 2023, +4.08% in 2022, and +10.43% in 2021).
  • The banking sector was the main driver of this performance, with its index rising by 78.37% in 2025, reaching its highest level in more than a decade. Over the last five years, the banking index has recorded an increase of 341.98%.
  • Market capitalization reached levels not seen since September 2008. Total capitalization increased by €43.108 billion in 2025, reaching €146.253 billion.
  • In 2025, trading liquidity improved by 57% compared to 2024, while participation by active investor accounts increased by 20%, remaining, however, significantly lower (–40%) than pre-crisis levels.
  • A record of more than 17 years was also recorded in dividend distributions, which reached approximately €5 billion, close to the historic high of €5.4 billion in 2007.
  • The participation of international investors rose to a record level of 69%. For the fifth consecutive year, foreign investors have strengthened their position in the Greek stock market, with foreign participation in the market capitalization of the Athens Stock Exchange reaching 69.3% at the end of September—an all-time high—equivalent to €82.8 billion, the highest level ever recorded.
  • Foreign participation in trading activity increased to 63.0% in 2025, from 50.8% in 2020, while net foreign inflows amounted to €1.3 billion over the period 2021–2025, with €312 million recorded in the first nine months of 2025.
  • Another record was the posting of gains for 11 consecutive months (October 2024–September 2025, with total gains of 38.4% for the General Price Index), the longest such streak since 1987, outperforming both global and regional indices.

Another significant 2025 development was Greece’s reclassification to Developed Market Status; While the Greek stock exchange was the only stock market in the Eurozone that had been downgraded since 2013, the global index provider FTSE Russell upgraded the Greek capital market from “Advanced Emerging Market” to “Developed Market” status.

The Greek Capital Market’s upgrade is expected to significantly broaden the pool of international investors who will now be able to invest in the Greek market, attracting substantial capital inflows from funds that track global Developed Markets indices.

Source: AMNA; images: Alexandros Beltes / AMNA