Gyronomics.
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1985 - 2026

Gyronomics - The Pita-Gyro Index

The real purchasing power of the net minimum wage in Greece (1985-2026), traced through the historical evolution of the gyro price from the drachma to the euro.

Data last updated:

Index 1985

Index 1985: 482

gyros/month

Peak

Peak: 597

in 1998

Index 2026

Index 2026: 162

gyros/month · -572 vs General CPI (hypothetical)

Data update - August 2026

Pita gyro prices for 1985-1997 have been revised. Following converging visitor recollections and additional research, 1985 is now treated as a documented anchor at 50-70 GRD (midpoint 60 GRD ≈ €0.18) instead of being derived backwards from 1998. The intermediate years 1986-1997 are now interpolated between the two documented anchors (1985 and 1998), weighted by the official CPI, which is why the index for the earliest years is lower than before.

Price derivation
2026 index difference: -572 gyros/month · the dashed lines on the chart show the other derivation scenarios.

How many gyros the wage buys

Data sourcesMinistry of LabourProtagonLiFOEurostat HICPELSTAT / BoGAll sources & methodology →
Gyros per month - Actual price Net minimum wage (€) Average gyro price (€, right)If it followed CPIIf it followed catering CPI Price uncertainty band

From 482 gyros per month in 1985, the index peaked at 597 in 1998 and stands at 162 in 2026.

Vertical marker at 2002, the year Greece switched from the drachma to the euro.

The chart is keyboard accessible: once focused, use ← → to change year, Home/End for first/last year, Esc to exit.

Chart: net minimum wage, average gyro price and purchasing-power index, 1985 to 2026.

Summary at a glance

Key points of the 1985-2026 period.

  • 1985, Starting point (drachma): index 482 gyros per month, average gyro price 0.18 €, net wage 85 €, flat versus the previous year.

  • 2002, Switch to the euro: index 528 gyros per month, average gyro price 0.78 €, net wage 412 €, down versus the previous year.

  • 2026, Today: index 162 gyros per month, average gyro price 4.89 €, net wage 792 €, up versus the previous year.

Methodology

How the index is calculated and what exactly each price-derivation scenario assumes.

  • Index = net minimum wage ÷ average gyro price (gyros per month). The wage is the statutory minimum for a single employee with no seniority increments, net of employee contributions.
  • Actual price (base series): documented prices act as anchors. In-between years are derived with implied gyro inflation: general CPI plus a constant annual spread, calibrated so the 1998-2019 derivation lands exactly on the two documented prices. It is not an official index.
  • If it followed CPI (hypothetical): from 1998 the price is adjusted only by the general CPI, ignoring documented prices after 1998. Comparing it with the base series shows how much faster gyros rose than general inflation.
  • If it followed catering CPI (hypothetical): from 1999 the official Eurostat HICP CP11 "Restaurants and hotels" sub-index for Greece is applied, with no documented price as anchor. That sub-index rose about 1.8x in 1998-2019, the gyro price about 3.4x.

Scenarios labelled "hypothetical" do not describe real prices. They are counterfactual experiments answering "what if the price had followed index X" and help measure the real price growth of the gyro.

What the Index is (implied gyro inflation)

The index shows how many gyros the net minimum wage buys in a month. It is a simple division: wage divided by the price of one gyro. The higher it goes, the stronger the wage is in real terms.

Net minimum wage (€/month)÷Average gyro price (€)162 gyros/month(2026)

"Implied gyro inflation" is not an official index. It is the annual rate derived from the documented data itself: general CPI plus a constant annual spread, calibrated so that deriving from the documented 1998 price (200 GRD) lands exactly on the documented 2019 price (€2.00). It only fills the years without a documented price.

Actual price

Sources: LiFO (1998), Protagon (2019-2025), recollections (1985)

Before 2019
1985 and 1998 are documented prices; 1986-1997 interpolated with the general CPI; 1999-2018 derived with implied gyro inflation, calibrated to the 1998 and 2019 endpoints.
From 2019 onwards
2019-2025 are documented market prices (Protagon). 2026 is a projection using the actual catering CPI (Eurostat CP11).

If it followed CPI

Source: ELSTAT / Bank of Greece (general CPI)

Before 2019
Same start up to 1998 (documented prices). From 1999 the price compounds with the general CPI only.
From 2019 onwards
Ignores documented prices after 1998 and keeps compounding with the general CPI to 2026. Purely hypothetical.

If it followed catering CPI

Source: Eurostat HICP CP11 "Restaurants and hotels", Greece

Before 2019
Same start up to 1998. From 1999 the official catering sub-index is applied, with no price anchor at all.
From 2019 onwards
Continues with the sub-index to 2026 (2026 is an estimate). It shows how far gyro prices outran even official catering inflation.

Why the 2026 index moved from 165 to 162

After the dataset was rebuilt on the actual Eurostat HICP series, exactly one input changed: the 2026 gyro price.

Before

792,40 € ÷ 4.81 € = 165

Now

792,40 € ÷ 4.89 € = 162

  • The wage did not change: €920 gross minus 13.87% contributions = €792.40 net.
  • The 2026 gyro price changed: from €4.81 to €4.89, that is +1.7%.
  • The factor applied: documented 2025 price (€4.70) × Eurostat catering CPI 2026 (+4.0%) = €4.89. Previously the projection used the general CPI (+2.4%).

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