Share of plastic waste exports in Greece
Greece: Share of plastic waste exports was 2.0% in 2024. ◆ Volatile
Share of plastic waste exports in Greece, 1988–2024
Source: United Nations Comtrade Database (2025); United Nations Comtrade Database (2023) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for share of plastic waste exports in Greece is 2.0%, measured in 2024. That is the highest value across all 23 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 689.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of plastic waste exports in Greece peaked at 2.0% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 0.0%, in 2022.
Greece ranks 13th of 162 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Share of plastic waste exports in Greece, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1988 | 0.0% | — |
| 1989 | 0.1% | +37635.1% |
| 1994 | 0.0% | -22.3% |
| 1995 | 0.0% | -47.9% |
| 1996 | 0.0% | +21.7% |
| 2001 | 0.0% | +1.7% |
| 2005 | 0.1% | +109.0% |
| 2007 | 0.1% | +51.4% |
| 2010 | 0.3% | +260.1% |
| 2011 | 0.3% | -2.9% |
| 2012 | 0.3% | -18.0% |
| 2013 | 0.2% | -8.7% |
| 2014 | 0.3% | +5.0% |
| 2015 | 0.3% | +9.7% |
| 2016 | 0.4% | +37.6% |
| 2017 | 0.5% | +39.5% |
| 2018 | 0.8% | +43.3% |
| 2019 | 0.9% | +20.1% |
| 2020 | 1.1% | +25.6% |
| 2021 | 1.2% | +3.2% |
| 2022 | 0.0% | -100.0% |
| 2023 | 0.0% | — |
| 2024 | 2.0% | — |
Greece compared with similar countries
- Greece's 2.0% is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.1%, 13.9× the median. (63 countries reporting)
- Greece's 2.0% is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 0.2%, 8.2× the median. (49 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Share of plastic waste exports in Greece changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | +37635.1% | 0.0% | 0.1% |
| 2010 | +260.1% | 0.1% | 0.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.1% | 2 |
| 1990s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 3 |
| 2000s | 0.1% | 0.0% | 0.1% | 3 |
| 2010s | 0.4% | 0.2% | 0.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.9% | 0.0% | 2.0% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Greece
More environment data for Greece
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly 3.36 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly 3.43 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.43 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.95 °C (2025)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual 1.28 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per unit 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), annual growth rate -1.16 % change on previous year (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), per unit of GDP 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of plastic waste exports in Greece?
- Share of plastic waste exports in Greece was 2.0% in 2024, according to United Nations Comtrade Database (2025); United Nations Comtrade Database (2023) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of plastic waste exports recorded in Greece?
- The highest recorded value was 2.0% in 2024.
- What is the lowest share of plastic waste exports recorded in Greece?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.0% in 2022.
- How does Greece rank for share of plastic waste exports?
- Greece ranks 13th out of 162 countries with data for 2024.
- Is share of plastic waste exports rising or falling in Greece?
- Over the last ten years it is up 689.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Greece data come from?
- The figures come from United Nations Comtrade Database (2025); United Nations Comtrade Database (2023) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of plastic waste exports. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 23 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Percentage of global plastic waste exports that a country accounts for.