Gyronomics

Gyronomics in pictures

Greece’s minimum wage, measured in gyro wraps →Did wages keep pace with the price? →Then and now →

Three purchasing-power stories

What wage you would need today to buy as many gyros as back then, measured in gyros. All three years carry a documented gyro price - the letter next to the year says how solid.

After contributions, before income tax. Annual income divided by 12, using 14 payments throughout the series. Wage and contributions are twelve-month means. Purchasing power in classic gyros.

• Gyros like it's 1989B

  The 1989 minimum wage bought 505 classic wraps a month.

  Absolute index (wrap of that era): 768 a month.

  2,172 €

  required wage before income tax in 2026

  At the 2026 price (4.30 €) you would need 2,172 € a month before income tax for the same purchasing power in gyros. Today's minimum is 919.72 €, i.e. short by 1,252 €.

  Documented price from price-control order 14/1989.

  Load 1989 in the tool

• Gyros like it's 2002B

  The 2002 minimum wage bought 394 classic wraps a month.

  Absolute index (wrap of that era): 391 a month.

  1,694 €

  required wage before income tax in 2026

  At the 2026 price (4.30 €) you would need 1,694 € a month before income tax for the same purchasing power in gyros. Today's minimum is 919.72 €, i.e. short by 774 €.

  The year the gyro moved from the drachma to the euro.

  Load 2002 in the tool

• Gyros like it's 2019A

  The 2019 minimum wage bought 306 classic wraps a month.

  Absolute index (wrap of that era): 275 a month.

  1,316 €

  required wage before income tax in 2026

  At the 2026 price (4.30 €) you would need 1,316 € a month before income tax for the same purchasing power in gyros. Today's minimum is 919.72 €, i.e. short by 396 €.

  The best-documented year before the pandemic.

  Load 2019 in the tool

How it is calculated

1. 1. Take that year's index

   Divide the minimum wage after contributions and before income tax, on an annual-income-divided-by-12 basis, by the classic-equivalent gyro price. Round the index to an integer.

2. 2. Keep the index fixed

   That number of classic gyros per month becomes the purchasing-power target for every other year.

3. 3. Multiply by the current price

   Multiply the target by the classic gyro price of the year examined. The result is the required wage after contributions and before income tax, on an annual-income-divided-by-12 basis.

All amounts are after contributions and before income tax, on an annual-income-divided-by-12 basis, drachmas are converted at the fixed 340.75 GRD/EUR rate, and gyro prices come from documented anchors with interpolation for the years in between.

Explore Gyronomics

The data, the sources and the rest of the tools.

• In 5 stepsNew here? Five short steps explain how we measure wages in gyros.
• Pita-Gyro Index 1976-2026Purchasing power through time, with a chart, comparisons and the origin of every figure.
• Salary calculatorEnter your own wage and see how many gyros it buys, how much work time one gyro costs, and how that compares to the past.
• Gyro DayThe date each year when the wage covers one gyro a day for the whole year, plus a 2030 outlook.
• The classic gyro wrapWhen fries moved inside the pita, how the meat portion changed, and why we are not always comparing the same product.
• Data & checksThe full 1976-2026 table, CSV export, consistency checks and per-year citations.
• Visitor-reported pricesSubmit the price you paid and see median prices by city and year.
• ArticlesShort reads: why we count gyros instead of euros, what happened to the minimum wage 1976-2026, and what food-service CPI is.
• FAQ & sourcesWhat the index measures, where the data comes from and how Greece compares to other countries.