Climate Change Overview

Country Summary

This page presents high-level information for Greece's climate zones and its seasonal cycle for mean temperature and precipitation for the latest climatology, 1991-2020. Climate zone classifications are derived from the Köppen-Geiger climate classification system, which divides climates into five main climate groups divided based on seasonal precipitation and temperature patterns. The five main groups are A (tropical), B (dry), C (temperate), D (continental), and E (polar). All climates except for those in the E group are assigned a seasonal precipitation sub-group (second letter).  Climate classifications are identified by hovering your mouse over the legend. A narrative overview of Greece's country context and climate is provided following the visualizations.

Greece has a total area of 131.957 km2 and occupies the southernmost extension of the Balkan Peninsula. The mainland accounts for 80% of the land area, with the remaining 20% divided among nearly 3000 islands. The Greek landscape, with its extensive coastline, exceeding 15,000 km in length, is closely linked with the sea, since only a small region in the northwest is further than 80 km from the sea. Approximately 25% of it is lowland, particularly the coastal plains along the seashore of the country. Greece is a mountainous country two-third of which are largely covered by mountains of medium height. Forest land covers 26.2% of the total area of the country. Other 40.3% of the total area of the country is covered by grassland, rangeland, and pasture with vegetation. Agricultural land accounts for 25.1% of the total area. Settlements and transportation infrastructure account for 4.1% of the total area. Finally, wetlands, land that is covered or saturated by water for all or the greatest part of the year, and other land, areas that do not fall into any of other land-use categories (e.g. rocky areas, bare soil, mine and quarry land), account for 2.3 % and 2.1 %, respectively. The total population of Greece is 10.7 million (2020) inhabitants. Population density in Greece is estimated at 84.03 inhabitants/km2. The tourism sector constitutes one of the main economic activities in Greece, as it generates wealth, creates jobs and contributes to economic development. However, this sector is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. The seaside tourism and the nature-based tourism rely on a high diversity of landscapes, ecosystems, coastal areas and flagship species. Greece has a very long coastline, exceeding 15,000 km, of which around 1,000 km are areas highly vulnerable to climate change. This is associated with a rise in Greece’s average sea level.