Women manage nearly one-quarter of Greece’s agricultural land, substantially more than the European Union average, according to Eurostat data that highlight their growing importance in the country’s farming economy despite persistent gender disparities.
Women managed 23.9% of Greece’s utilized agricultural area in 2023, compared with 17.2% across the EU, a difference of 6.7 percentage points.
Of Greece’s approximately 2.79 million hectares of farmland, women managed 668,920 hectares, while men oversaw roughly 2.13 million hectares. One hectare equals about 2.47 acres.
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The figures place Greece ahead of the European average in female participation in agricultural management, although men remain responsible for more than three-quarters of the country’s farmland.
Regional differences are pronounced. Four Greek regions rank among the EU’s 25 regions where women manage at least 28.5% of agricultural land.
The North Aegean islands and the Athens region of Attica lead Greece, each with female management accounting for 29.9% of farmland. Central Greece follows at 29.2%, while the South Aegean stands at 28.6%.
In absolute terms, Central Macedonia, a major agricultural region in northern Greece, has the largest area under female management, at 114,460 hectares, representing 22.3% of its farmland.
Crete follows with 87,460 hectares, or 23.7%, while Eastern Macedonia and Thrace account for 71,910 hectares, equivalent to 24.2%.
Women manage 71,170 hectares in Thessaly, one of Greece’s principal agricultural production centers, and 70,600 hectares in the Peloponnese.
Western Greece records the country’s lowest regional share, at 19.4%.
Despite Greece’s relatively strong European ranking, progress has been limited.
Between 2020 and 2023, agricultural land managed by women increased by just 5,920 hectares, from 663,000 to 668,920 hectares. Their share edged up from 23.8% to 23.9%.
The national figures also conceal contrasting regional trends, with female-managed farmland expanding in Crete but declining in Central Macedonia and Thessaly.
Across Europe, disparities are considerably wider. Upper Austria records the highest female-managed share, at 42.5%, while Friesland in the Netherlands has the lowest, at just 2.7%.
The findings come as the United Nations has designated 2026 the International Year of the Woman Farmer, drawing attention to women’s contributions to agricultural production and food systems.
