Greece today: e-ΕΦΚΑ and ΔΥΠΑ pay €2.53bn from 26 October, S&P keeps Greece at BBB, building costs rise, and public-sector pension applications go online from 2 November

When are November 2026 pensions paid, and what else do e-ΕΦΚΑ and ΔΥΠΑ pay from 26 to 30 October?

e-ΕΦΚΑ (e-EFKA, Ηλεκτρονικός Εθνικός Φορέας Κοινωνικής Ασφάλισης, Ilektronikos Ethnikos Foreas Koinonikis Asfalisis), Greece's single social-security fund, and ΔΥΠΑ (DYPA, Δημόσια Υπηρεσία Απασχόλησης, Dimosia Ypiresia Apascholisis), the public employment service, will pay a total of €2,532,016,342.27 to 4,374,639 beneficiaries between 26 and 30 October 2026, the labour ministry (Υπουργείο Εργασίας και Κοινωνικής Ασφάλισης, Ypourgeio Ergasias kai Koinonikis Asfalisis) announced on 23 October 2026.¹ΕΛ²³ The ministry's release lists eight payment lines:¹

• e-ΕΦΚΑ pays November 2026 main and supplementary pensions, €2,455,097,800.11 to 4,294,896 people, on 26 and 29 October 2026.¹²
• e-ΕΦΚΑ pays €918,542.16 in funeral expenses to 893 people on 26 October 2026.¹
• e-ΕΦΚΑ pays €2,500,000 to 7,000 people as advance payments of November pensions under law 4778/2021 on 30 October 2026.¹³
• e-ΕΦΚΑ refunds €5,000,000 of contributions paid in error by non-salaried insured people on 30 October 2026; the release gives no number of beneficiaries.¹
• e-ΕΦΚΑ pays €16,500,000 in lump-sum (εφάπαξ, efapax) benefits to 850 people between 26 and 30 October 2026.¹
• ΔΥΠΑ pays €22,000,000 to 36,000 people in unemployment and other benefits.¹²
• ΔΥΠΑ pays €14,000,000 to 20,000 mothers on paid maternity leave.¹³
• ΔΥΠΑ pays €16,000,000 to 15,000 people in subsidised employment programmes.¹

By our calculation, the eight lines add up exactly to €2,532,016,342.27, and the seven lines with a head count add up to 4,374,639 people.¹ By our calculation, November pensions make up about 97% of the money.¹ Our guide to Greek pension payment dates in 2026 explains which fund pays on which day.

S&P keeps Greece at BBB with a stable outlook

S&P Global Ratings affirmed Greece's credit rating at BBB for the long term and A-2 for the short term, with a stable outlook, late on Friday 23 October 2026, CNN.gr and Capital.gr report.¹⁰¹¹ A Newsquawk wire headline carried the decision at 20:24 UTC, which is 23:24 in Athens.¹²

According to CNN.gr, S&P says the stable outlook balances Greece's strong economic and fiscal performance against its high external and public debt.¹⁰ S&P expects Greece's primary surplus, the budget balance before interest payments, to reach 3.8% of GDP in 2026, about one percentage point above the government's initial target, the two outlets report; Capital.gr puts that target at 2.8%.¹⁰¹¹ S&P expects net government debt of 123% of GDP at the end of 2026, falling to 107% by 2029, they say.¹⁰¹¹ Capital.gr reports that S&P would raise the rating if external imbalances improve durably and external debt falls significantly, and would lower it if fiscal performance deteriorates markedly.¹¹

Building materials for new homes cost 5.6% more than a year ago, ELSTAT says

ΕΛΣΤΑΤ (ELSTAT, Ελληνική Στατιστική Αρχή, Elliniki Statistiki Archi), the statistics authority, said on 23 October 2026 that its price index for materials used to build new homes rose 5.6% in September 2026 on a year earlier, against a rise of 2.2% a year before.¹³ΕΛ¹⁵ The index rose 0.5% in September 2026 on August 2026.¹³ The largest annual rises were for diesel (31.2%), electricity (14.9%), bricks (12.4%), copper conductors (11.3%) and ready-mix concrete (6.6%).¹³¹⁵ Basic-processed metals, the biggest group in the index with a weight of 27.16%, rose 4.2%.¹³

The index measures what builders pay for materials delivered to site, excluding VAT, with prices collected in Attica, Thessaloniki, Patras, Heraklion, Larissa and Volos.¹³ In a separate quarterly release the same day, ELSTAT said the construction cost of new homes rose 4.8% in the third quarter of 2026 on a year earlier, with materials up 5.1% and labour up 4.3%, and 1.4% on the second quarter.¹⁴¹⁵ The price index for construction work categories, which tracks what contractors are paid, rose 3.5% on a year earlier.¹⁴

Public-sector pension applications go online only from 2 November 2026

From November 2026, applications for old-age and survivors' pensions under Greece's former public-sector pension scheme must be made online, replacing the paper procedure, e-ΕΦΚΑ said on 23 October 2026.²⁰ΕΛ²¹ Old-age pension applications go online only from Monday 2 November 2026, and survivors' pension applications, made after the death of an insured person, from Monday 9 November 2026.²⁰²¹²² One application covers the main pension, the supplementary pension, the lump sum and the benefits of ΜΤΠΥ (MTPY, Μετοχικό Ταμείο Πολιτικών Υπαλλήλων, Metochiko Tameio Politikon Ypallilon), the civil servants' fund.²⁰²¹

Applicants log in at e-efka.gov.gr with their TAXISnet codes and choose «ΗΛΕΚΤΡΟΝΙΚΕΣ ΥΠΗΡΕΣΙΕΣ ➔ Δημόσιοι Υπάλληλοι & Ν.Π.Δ.Δ.» (online services, then civil servants and public-law bodies) and then «Ηλεκτρονική Υπηρεσία (Δημόσιο) Υποβολής Αίτησης Συνταξιοδότησης και Εφάπαξ Παροχής» (the public-sector pension and lump-sum application service).²⁰²¹ An application can only be submitted in final form once the job has ended, for example by resignation, age limit, physical incapacity or discharge from the armed forces.²⁰²¹ The responsible public service then completes the service-record form (e-Δ.Α.Υ.Κ.) and forwards the application with the required documents under the existing procedure, e-ΕΦΚΑ says.²⁰²¹ Help is available on 1555 and at 1555.gov.gr, and technical problems go to tm.web@efka.gov.gr.²⁰

Greek electricity exports up 70% in January–August 2026

Greece exported 9.24 TWh of electricity in January–August 2026, 70% more than a year earlier, and imported 3.14 TWh, 27% less, for net exports of 6.1 TWh, according to ΑΔΜΗΕ data reported by ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ.¹⁶¹⁷¹⁸ ΑΔΜΗΕ (ADMIE, Ανεξάρτητος Διαχειριστής Μεταφοράς Ηλεκτρικής Ενέργειας, Anexartitos Diacheiristis Metaforas Ilektrikis Energeias) is the grid operator, and ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ (APE-MPE, Αθηναϊκό-Μακεδονικό Πρακτορείο Ειδήσεων, Athinaiko-Makedoniko Praktoreio Eidiseon) is the state news agency.¹⁶¹⁷ ΑΔΜΗΕ publishes these figures in monthly energy bulletins; we could not open the August 2026 bulletin, which is over 10 MB, so the figures rest on the reports.¹⁹

By value, ELSTAT trade data put electricity exports at €866.8m and imports at €391m over the eight months, a surplus of €475m, the reports say.¹⁶¹⁸ Greece's electricity trade balance turned positive in 2024, with a surplus of €121.5m, which widened to €261.8m in 2025, so eight months of 2026 already exceed the whole of 2025.¹⁷¹⁸ Greek outlets call it a "new record"; that is their word, not a figure we could check against ΑΔΜΗΕ's series.¹⁷¹⁸ ΑΔΜΗΕ chief executive Manos Manousakis told ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ that Greece is consolidating its role as an electricity exporter in south-east Europe and that new interconnections widen the scope for trade.¹⁶¹⁷

Bank of Greece: 2% growth and 3.5% inflation in 2026 are September's projections

Greek outlets reported on 23 October 2026 that the Bank of Greece (Τράπεζα της Ελλάδος, Trapeza tis Ellados) expects growth of 2% and inflation of 3.5% in 2026.⁴⁵⁶ These are not new forecasts: they are the Eurosystem's September 2026 projections for Greece, repeated in a Bank of Greece note on the Greek economy, and the 3.5% inflation figure was already reported on 14 September 2026.⁴⁷⁸ For comparison, the Bank of Greece's June 2026 Monetary Policy Report expected growth of 1.9% and inflation of 3.8% in 2026.⁹⁵ The projection was made before prices accelerated again in September 2026, two outlets note.⁵⁶

e-ΕΦΚΑ paid arrears to working pensioners on 23 October 2026

e-ΕΦΚΑ paid arrears on Friday 23 October 2026 to pensioners whose work after retirement has now been counted towards their pension.²³²⁴²⁵ The release gives no amount, no number of pensioners and no law number, referring only to "the current legislative framework" (our translation).²³²⁴ Our guide to working while drawing a Greek pension explains the rules.