Greece's migration ministry issued 8,879 initial Golden Visa permits in 2025, nearly double the 4,535 issued in 2024, even as new investor applications fell roughly 25%. The split points to officials clearing older files from a transition-window backlog rather than rising demand.

What do the headline numbers actually show?

The two measures track different things. Applications count new files entering the system. Approvals count initial permits the ministry actually issued in a given month. A large queue lets one climb while the other drops.

The ministry's December 2025 report recorded 620 initial approvals in January and 640 in February. The pace built through much of the year and peaked at 916 in July. October added 875 permits. December contributed 828. Enterprise Greece's February newsletter retained the 8,879 total. A revised January 2026 edition later lifted the calendar-year count to 9,017.

How large was the backlog?

At the end of 2025, 9,958 initial investor applications remained pending, including 4,437 filed in 2024 and 4,846 filed in 2025. By July 2026, the ministry reported the backlog had shrunk to 6,315 cases, with 1,902 dating from 2024 and 1,965 from 2025.

The shrinkage confirms higher case-clearing volume. It does not, on its own, prove that every file moves more quickly or that new demand is accelerating.

Why did applications fall after a 2024 peak?

The 2024 surge followed changes to the property rules and the closing of a transition window. Applicants who met the transition conditions could retain the older thresholds, which encouraged some to bring qualifying transactions forward.

Under the current framework, the standard minimum sits at:

• 800,000 euros in Attica, the Thessaloniki regional unit, Mykonos, Santorini, and Greek islands with more than 3,100 residents
• 400,000 euros elsewhere
• 250,000 euros for qualifying commercial-to-residential conversions and listed-building restorations (not a nationwide tier for ordinary apartments)

Both standard routes also require a single property with at least 120 square meters of main living space. Short-term letting and subleasing are prohibited for the qualifying property.

Which nationalities dominate the active stock?

Nationality tables show the stock of active initial investor permits, not annual approval flows by country. At the end of 2025:

• Chinese nationals held 9,926 active permits, or 47.9% of the total
• Turkish nationals held 3,291, equal to 15.9%
• Lebanon, Iran, the United Kingdom, Israel, and the United States followed

Year-over-year changes were large:

• Turkey: up 160% (1,268 to 3,291)
• Israel: up 91.6% (332 to 636)
• China: up 53.7% (6,457 to 9,926)
• Iran: up 52.5%
• United States: up 49%

By July 2026, Chinese nationals held 12,485 active permits and Turkish nationals 4,975. China's share held near 47.5%, while Turkey's reached 18.9%.

What does the data not establish?

Family permits sit outside the main-investor figure. The ministry listed 40,902 active initial permits for investors' family members at end-2025, compared with 20,732 for investors themselves. Mixing the two without a label would more than double the apparent size of the investor population.

The clearest conclusion concerns administrative volume. Greece cleared far more initial investor permits than in 2024 while receiving fewer new applications. China remained the dominant source country, but Turkey's share rose quickly through 2025 and continued climbing into mid-2026. Israel, Iran, and the United States also recorded sizable gains in active permits.

The data does not establish the motive behind any individual application, the specific property purchased, or whether the higher approval pace will persist once older cases clear. Those questions require evidence the underlying records do not publish.