OECD: Greece leads the way in real household income growth

The excellent performance of the Greek economy at the close of the year was highlighted in the latest report from the Organisation for Economic Stability and Development (OECD), which was released on Wednesday.

According to the findings, Greece emerged as a champion in terms of real per capita household income growth for the fourth quarter of 2026, marking the highest percentage improvement among all the Organization’s member states.

The report notes that GDP growth focuses on the change in overall economic activity, while increase in household income reflects the change in income earned by households, i.e. income allocated to consumption or savings.

Among the 20 countries for which data are available, 14 recorded an increase in real per capita household income, 4 recorded a contraction and 2 remained at the same level.

In Greece, the increase in real per capita household income was 3.3% at an annual level compared with -1.3% for the third quarter of 2025.

As noted by the OECD, the development was partly driven by increases in net property income as well as workers’ compensation, with the unemployment rate reaching its lowest level since 2009. Real GDP per capita growth in Greece increased from 0.6% to 0.7%.

The second largest quarterly change among all OECD countries was recorded by Poland, from -0.8% in the third quarter of 2025 to +2.5% for the fourth quarter of 2025

For all of 2025, Poland recorded the largest increase for the second consecutive year, at 4.1%, followed by Chile, at 2.3%. Increases in workers’ wages for Poland offset the decline in social benefits, resulting in an acceleration in real per capita household income growth, while real per capita GDP growth remained stable at 1,2%

Across the Organisation’s countries, real per capita household income growth slowed to 0.8%, from 2.1% in 2024, while OECD real per capita GDP growth remained stable at 1.2%.

Austria recorded the largest contraction, falling to -1.8% after growing 3.6% in 2024.

Among the G7 economies, real per capita household income growth remained stable at 0.1% in Q4 2025, reflecting different outcomes across countries.

In the United Kingdom, real per capita household income rose 1.1% after a 1.2% decline in Q3. This recovery mainly reflected increases in workers’ pay and social benefits,

as well as lower income and property taxes.

Meanwhile, real GDP per capita in the UK contracted for the second consecutive quarter, by 0.1%.

In contrast, growth in real per capita household income slowed slightly in Canada (from 0.2% in the third quarter to 0.1% in the fourth quarter) and in the United States (from 0.1% to 0.0%), and more sharply in Germany (from 0.6% to 0.0%).

Italynoted a large contraction in real per capita household income, which fell to -0.9% in Q4 2025, after rising 0.4% in Q3.

This was mainly due to accelerating inflation and a decline in property income.

Real GDP per capita growth in Italy remained relatively stable at 0.3%. In France, real per capita household income continued to contract, albeit at a slower pace than in the previous quarter, from -0.4% in the third quarter to -0.2% in the fourth quarter.