Enter your annual gross salary to see how much you pay in EFKA social insurance contributions, broken down by branch: pension, supplementary pension, health, and unemployment.
Total EFKA contributions
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Employee share only (13.87% total)
Main pension (6.67%)
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Supplementary pension (3.5%)
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Health insurance (2.55%)
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Unemployment (1.15%)
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Your breakdown
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Amount
How Greek EFKA contributions are calculated
The EFKA employee contribution is a flat percentage of gross annual salary with no income ceiling in 2025. You multiply the gross salary by 13.87% to get the total contribution. For an employee earning 25,000 EUR per year, that works out to 3,467.50 EUR in total EFKA contributions. These are withheld by the employer monthly and remitted directly to EFKA. The deduction reduces the taxable income used for the Greek progressive income tax calculation, so EFKA effectively provides a partial indirect tax saving as well.
The four EFKA branches explained
Greek EFKA is divided into four contribution streams. The main pension fund (kyria syntaxi) receives the largest slice at 6.67% and funds the primary state retirement pension. The supplementary pension fund (epikourike syntaxi) receives 3.5% and funds a top-up pension on retirement. The health insurance branch (ygeia) at 2.55% covers access to the national health system, public hospitals, and primary care clinics. The unemployment fund (anergia) at 1.15% funds unemployment benefits paid through OAED (now DYPA). Together these four rates add up to the 13.87% employee total introduced by the 2020 pension reform.
Worked example: 30,000 EUR annual gross
Consider an employee with an annual gross salary of 30,000 EUR. The EFKA contributions are: main pension 30,000 x 6.67% = 2,001 EUR; supplementary pension 30,000 x 3.5% = 1,050 EUR; health insurance 30,000 x 2.55% = 765 EUR; unemployment 30,000 x 1.15% = 345 EUR. Total EFKA = 4,161 EUR. The taxable income for income tax purposes is then 30,000 minus 4,161 = 25,839 EUR. The monthly EFKA deduction from the payslip is approximately 346.75 EUR (assuming 12 monthly payments on an annual basis).
Employer contributions and total employment cost
Employers in Greece pay a separate EFKA contribution rate of approximately 22.29% on top of the gross salary, for a combined employer-plus-employee EFKA burden of about 36.16%. This means that for every 1,000 EUR of gross salary, the true cost to the employer is roughly 1,223 EUR once employer-side EFKA is included. The employee contribution of 13.87% is what appears on the payslip as a deduction. Employers are required to file and pay both shares monthly through the EFKA employer portal. Failure to pay carries penalties and can affect the employee benefit entitlements, including access to healthcare and eventual pension calculation.
Frequently asked questions
What are the EFKA contribution rates for employees in Greece in 2025?
In 2025, Greek employees pay a total EFKA social insurance contribution of 13.87% of their gross salary. This rate breaks down into four branches: main pension (kyria syntaxi) at 6.67%, supplementary pension (epikourike syntaxi) at 3.5%, health insurance (ygeia) at 2.55%, and unemployment fund (anergia) at 1.15%. These contributions are deducted directly from the gross salary before income tax is calculated, meaning the taxable income used for personal income tax purposes is the gross salary minus EFKA. The employer also pays a separate, higher share of contributions on top of the employee rate, but that employer share does not appear on the employee payslip and does not reduce the employee gross salary figure.
How did the 2020 pension reform change EFKA contribution rates in Greece?
Law 4670/2020 (the Hatzidakis pension reform, named after the then-Labour Minister) restructured EFKA contribution rates significantly. Before the reform, employees paid higher rates spread across the former IKA (main pension and health fund), ETEA (supplementary pension), and OAED (unemployment) systems. The 2020 reform unified all these funds under EFKA and set the current employee total at 13.87%, which represented a reduction from the prior combined rate of around 16.5%. The stated goal was to reduce labour costs, encourage formal employment, and align Greece with European norms. The rate has remained at 13.87% through 2025. Employers also saw their contribution share revised downward under the same law, though the employer share remains substantially higher than the employee share.
Are EFKA contributions tax-deductible in Greece?
Yes. EFKA employee contributions are deducted from gross salary before the Greek personal income tax (forologos eisodimatos) is calculated. This means your taxable income equals your gross annual salary minus the total EFKA contributions you paid during the year. At a 13.87% EFKA rate, an employee earning 30,000 EUR gross would pay 4,161 EUR in EFKA and have a taxable income of 25,839 EUR. This deductibility is automatic and built into the Greek payroll system. You do not need to claim it separately on your E1 tax return since employers report it through the Ergani system and it is already factored into your income tax assessment issued by AADE (the Greek tax authority).
How do employer EFKA contributions compare to employee contributions in Greece?
Employers in Greece pay a significantly larger share of EFKA contributions than employees. In 2025, the employee total is 13.87% of gross salary, while the employer share is approximately 22.29% of gross salary. This means the total combined EFKA burden on a single employment contract is roughly 36.16% of the gross wage. For context, if an employee earns 25,000 EUR gross, the employer pays an additional 5,572 EUR in EFKA on top of the gross salary, bringing the total cost of employment to around 30,572 EUR. This employer cost is relevant for businesses calculating the true cost per hire in Greece, but it does not appear on the employee payslip. Only the employee share of 13.87% reduces the employee gross pay.