Athens, Greece

What Athens is made of: the communities whose institutions are here, the sectors its 25,614 businesses sit in, the franchises already on the ground, and the services a newcomer could start.

Business register for this city: © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL 1.0 — named shops, offices, trades and services, which undercounts businesses that are not mapped.

25,614 businesses on file · 191 trades · 27 sectors · · built from geonet.athens on 2026-10-27

Businesses25,614
100% carry coordinates
Specialised in12
trades above the national pattern
Places of worship0
Franchise brands57
already operating here

Visiting rather than moving? The free guidebook for Athens → — the free guidebook for this region: why go, what to see, what is open when it rains.

1

The local economy

What the business base is made of, what it is specialised in against the national pattern, and what that mix implies. This is the part a development office would read first.

Composition, not health. geonet records what trades exist and where; it does not record formation, closure, employment or revenue, so none of those appear here. What makes this economics rather than a directory is the NAICS coding: it lets the local mix be read against the BLS survival curves and against the 323 industry groups this research has screened.

The two biggest markets here

Every industry group on this page links through to its NAICS page, and to the screened market report where this research has one — that is what the trait-to-NAICS coding buys.

Business density—
Breadth of the base2185
narrow — 45 industry groups, top three 63.8%
Survival the mix implies59.1%
at five years, against 51.4% for all private establishments
Coded to NAICS49.2%
of which 72.4% unambiguous

What this city is specialised in

Location quotient is this city's share of a trade divided by the same share across 26 metro tables worldwide. Above 1.25 is the conventional threshold for a local specialisation.

Thin against the national pattern

Common trades that are under-represented here. For someone deciding what to open, this is the more useful half of the table — though a gap can mean unmet demand or a market that does not work here, and this does not tell you which.

The base against the entry screen

Businesses by the entry signal of the industry group they sit in, from the /markets screen. A large "structure decides" share means most local trades are ones where being better than the incumbent does not by itself win. A trade is matched to the screened record at whatever level the research wrote it — the same code, a broader one, or a narrower one. Where a group holds several screened sub-markets the count is shown, because no single one of them speaks for the whole group.

Enter
18%
2,271 businesses
Caution
30.9%
3,891 businesses
Structure decides
51.1%
6,449 businesses
Not screened
0%
0 businesses

How to read the survival figure

Each sector's five-year establishment survival rate, weighted by how many of this city's businesses sit in that sector. It is a property of the MIX, not of these businesses — it says what survival this composition would imply at US private-sector rates, because no Canadian equivalent series exists.

Weighted over 100% of the coded base — public administration carries no curve. Source: Business Employment Dynamics — Table 7, Survival of private sector establishments by opening year, US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

And what it does not measure

A "mixed" trait is one that genuinely spans codes — "computers" covers systems design, repair and supply. The clear share is how much of this reading rests on unambiguous coding. Business density also reflects how completely the directory covers a place, not only how many businesses are in it — so it compares poorly between a city the register knows well and one it does not.

2

Who lives here, and who the city is for

The census: the only figures on this page that count people rather than businesses, and the three cohort readings they make possible.

No census subdivision is mapped for gr-athens in local/census-map.json, so this page carries no census figures. The mapping is kept explicit because Canada has several places called London, Toronto and Kelowna, and attaching the wrong one would put another city's demographics on this page.

P

People and languages

Who lives here and the languages business runs in: population and age from the statistics offices, and the share who can hold a conversation in English and other languages from the EU’s 2024 language survey. Each figure says whether it covers the city, the region or the whole country.

Population2,622,404
metro 2013
Median age41
metro 2011
Employment rate73.1%
region 2025

Languages spoken

  • Official: Greek
  • The census here does not ask about language, so no shares are given.

Doing business in English (and other languages)

Special Eurobarometer 540: share of residents aged 15+ who can hold a conversation in English as a non-mother-tongue language (EU27 average 47%). Fieldwork Sept-Oct 2023, published May 2024.

Age: under 15 13.2% · 15–64 68.9% · 65 and over 17.9% (metro, 2011) Eurostat · 1,082,872 households

Not established: Population and age figures are the Urban Audit 'greater city' (2.62 million, 2013), not the Municipality of Athens; Eurostat has no newer Athens city figure. ELSTAT 2021 census municipality figure not fetched.

3

The communities the register shows

A community appears in the business register before it appears in prose — a national church, a society, a credit union, a newspaper. Those are counted as institutions, and they are what suggests residents. A restaurant serving a cuisine is counted separately as trade, because every city has those and they say nothing about who lives nearby. The ranking is by institutions.

CommunityInstitutions WorshipTrade Where it shows
German 1 — 2
Deutsche Buchhandlung
Greek — — 31
Arabic-speaking — — 5
Chinese — — 4
Italian — — 4
Swiss — — 4
Thai — — 3
Brazilian — — 3
Polish — — 3
Spanish-speaking — — 2
Afghan — — 2
Indigenous — — 2
Korean — — 1
Vietnamese — — 1
Filipino — — 1
Czech — — 1
Dutch — — 1
Armenian — — 1
Turkish — — 1
Persian — — 1
Caribbean — — 1
Scottish — — 1
4

Where the communities are

Streets, not neighbourhood names. The data knows that Greek institutions sit on one street and Greek restaurants on another; it does not know the word "Greektown", so it does not use it.

5

What the city is made of

Every business on file, grouped by the sector it trades in. This is the economic-development view: where the 25,614 businesses actually are, and the specific trades inside each sector.

SectorBusinesses ShareWhat is in it
Retail 7,600 29.7% pharmacy (868) · bakery (827) · supermarket (696) · convenience (451) · jewelry (431) · books (289) · electronics (162) · gifts (118)
Dining 2,898 11.3% restaurant (2823) · deli (64) · pasta (5) · food (3) · coffee shop (2) · burger (1)
Beverage 2,613 10.2% coffee (2481) · alcohol (95) · wine (19) · beverages (18)
Fashion 2,047 8% clothing (1742) · shoes (302) · wig (3)
Beauty 1,423 5.6% barber (892) · beauty salon (318) · cosmetics (129) · tattoo (47) · pet grooming (35) · piercing (1) · interior design (1)
Living 1,023 4% furniture (216) · theatre (176) · florist (164) · houseware (85) · dry cleaning (82) · sewing (58) · locksmith (34) · photography (30)
Business 1,001 3.9% association (74) · consulting (14) · research (6) · foundation (5) · staffing (3) · logistics (2) · religion (2)
Health 857 3.3% optician (310) · doctor (201) · hospital (54) · massage (21) · speech therapist (17) · physician (4) · nursing home (3) · podiatrist (2)
Travel 856 3.3% hotel (354) · museum (111) · laundry (96) · car rental (60) · travel agent (40) · bed and breakfast (13) · boat (7)
Automotive 736 2.9% car repair (369) · auto parts (125) · motorcycle (84) · car wash (81) · tires (75) · truck (1) · golf cart (1)
Entertainment 703 2.7% bar (451) · cinema (94) · nightclub (86) · music (29) · lottery (10) · video (7) · gambling (7) · charity (5)
Construction 599 2.3% electrical (92) · paint (58) · HVAC (39) · carpet (34) · plumbing (27) · electrician (21) · carpentry (12) · flooring (11)
Energy 530 2.1% fuel (530)
Finance 483 1.9% accounting (163) · financial advice (1)
Food 429 1.7% candy (242) · ice cream (85) · seafood (40) · health food (31) · spices (22) · cheese (8) · catering (1)
Education 414 1.6% driving school (136) · university (53) · library (52) · college (31) · music lesson (31) · training (2) · trade school (1) · art school (1)
Sports 164 0.6% sporting goods (104) · bicycle (48) · fishing (8) · hunting (4)
Media 140 0.5% printing (123) · publisher (15) · sign (2)
Realty 100 0.4% real estate (37) · apartment (37) · studio (18) · property management (8)
BioTech 74 0.3% laboratory (74)
6

The franchises already here

Brands from a register of 2,024 franchise systems, matched into this city by name. A high count is a signal in both directions: the territory works, and it may be taken.

36 of these brands are a single common word — Metro, Avenue, Budget — so their counts include businesses that merely share the word. They are marked rather than dropped.

BrandCategory HereWorldwide
My Market supermarket 48 69
McDonald's hamburger 15 31,800
La Vie en Rose retail 8 150
Cartridge World retail 5 1,400
Marks & Spencer retail 5 742
The Body Shop retail 4 —
Best Western businesshotel 3 4,200
Harley Davidson locations motorcycle 3 —
Brooks Brothers retail 2 —
JD Sports retail 2 400
Tommy Hilfiger retail 2 122
Crowne Plaza upscalehotel 1 —
Delta Hotels accommodation 1 40
Hard Rock Cafe food 1 140
Hilton Garden Inn businesshotel 1 —
Jack in the Box fastfood 1 2,079
Laura Ashley retail 1 —
Max Mara retail 1 —
Michael Kors retail 1 —
Polo Ralph Lauren — 1 —
Spring Rolls food 1 8
Intersport name only retail 18 60
Benetton name only retail 10 —
Honda name only car 10 —
Starbucks name only coffee 8 3,500
Carrefour name only supermarket 7 2,455
MANGO name only retail 6 850
Sephora name only inc 6 —
Michelin name only auto 5 —
Mothercare name only retail 5 —
Lacoste name only — 3 —
Mitsubishi name only auto 3 —
Nissan name only auto 3 —
Roots name only retail 3 145
Volkswagen name only — 3 —
Bebe name only retail 2 —
Champion name only supermarket 2 1,000
HSBC name only bank 2 —
IKEA name only retail 2 250
Manor name only retail 2 —
Toyota name only car 2 —
Armani name only fashion 1 —
COSI name only food 1 —
Diana name only supermarket 1 3
Europcar name only car 1 2,825
Fantastico name only supermarket 1 27
Gucci name only — 1 207
Hyatt name only upscalehotel 1 —
InterContinental name only luxuryhotel 1 —
Irma name only supermarket 1 71
Jeep name only suv 1 —
Krystal name only fastfood 1 400
Lululemon locations name only sportswear 1 81
Marriott name only upscalehotel 1 2,800
Radisson name only upscalehotel 1 —
Renaissance name only upscalehotel 1 —
Wolford name only retail 1 —
7

Real estate as a local trade

Four unrelated jobs share the name: selling existing homes, owning and letting them, managing them for someone else, and building new ones. For anyone weighing a move or a licence these are the counts — and the ownership question goes to /property, which answers it building by building.

Real estate is a local job market in its own right, and four unrelated trades get the same name. Counts are businesses filed under each trade in the register, which lists a brokerage once however many agents work there — so this measures firms, not licensees.

Selling homes

5312
37 firms · LQ 0.05

Offices of agents and brokers — the resale market, and the biggest single trade in most Canadian cities.

Named in the register
  • Check House
  • City Value Real Estate — Πινδάρου 15
  • DK ATHENS REAL ESTATE
  • Doriki — Δημοφώντος 19
  • Greek Property Group
  • Green Estate — Ούλωφ Πάλμε 33
  • Horizon
  • Kaisaras
  • Kings & Queens Properties — Φειδιππίδου 8
  • LEVEL REALTY — Παράδρομος Λεωφόρου Βουλιαγμένης 604
  • Ploumis Sotiropoulos — Πανεπιστημίου 6
  • Realty4value — Αγνώστων Ηρώων 88
  • Γιάννης Καλδέλης
  • Γούτος

Owning and letting

5311
55 firms · LQ 0.5

Lessors of real estate: the buildings themselves, filed under the building rather than the owner.

Named in the register

Managing for owners

5313
8 firms · LQ 0.2

Property managers, who run buildings the landlord does not.

Named in the register

Who actually owns it

The full property record →

From the /property research for this city, which asks a different question: not who trades in property here, but who owns it. An owner is named there only where a document says so. Cadastre gated by legal interest; EUR 9.50 certificate; no open owner data.

Landowners

  • Hellenic Public Properties Company (HPPC / ETAD, Εταιρεία Ακινήτων Δημοσίου) — 36,000 real-estate assets being registered and valued; over 2,800 leases and concessions
  • Growthfund – The National Fund of Greece (HCAP / Superfund; absorbed HRADF) — EUR 12.3bn AUM (2024); about 60 real-estate assets in its development book
  • GAIAOSE (railway real estate; Hellenic Rail Estate) — 5,000 buildings; land plots over 100,000 stremmata (c. 10,000 ha)
  • Hellenic Republic (Greek State) — Grantor of the AIA (to 2046) and Piraeus port (to 2052) concessions

Homebuilders

  • LAMDA Development S.A. (The Ellinikon) — 671 units in Little Athens, 85–86% sold or reserved; EUR 291m residential revenue in 2025
  • Dimand S.A. — 8 projects; fair value EUR 172.3m; GDV at completion EUR 964.3m (31.12.2025)

Commercial landlords

  • PRODEA Investments S.A. — c. EUR 2.0bn AUM; EUR 1.05bn NAV; 1,269 hotel keys
  • LAMDA MALLS Group (LAMDA Development S.A.) — EUR 1,761m GAV; 179k m² GLA in operation
  • Premia Properties REIC — 79 properties; 580,000 m² GBA; EUR 722m investments
  • Noval Property REIC — EUR 706.9m portfolio fair value (30.06.2026)
  • Dimand S.A. — EUR 172.3m fair value; EUR 964.3m GDV (31.12.2025)

12 marquee buildings examined, 9 with an owner established.

On "how many doors"

How many doors a landlord holds is not in any of this. The register files an apartment building under the building, not its owner, and carries no unit count; there is no open dataset of Canadian landlords by portfolio. Where this research has established ownership it is in the Athens property record for the city, building by building, which is a different and much slower exercise.

8

Work on the go, mobile services

The Ultimate 411 half of local: everything where the customer does not have to come to you. Each service opens a page on Ultimate 411 to request a quote or book a time.

A shop needs the customer to walk in. These 186 services do the opposite — the mobile mechanic, the mobile groomer, the bookkeeper, the junk haul — and they are the ones a person can start without a lease. 3 of them already match a trait filed in this city's register.

The 186 Service=1 rows in search.local: work on the go, mobile services, where the provider travels to the customer. "present" counts businesses already filed under that exact trait name; a blank is a coverage gap, not proof of absence, because the two vocabularies were built separately.

9

Schools and colleges

wander.schools is a post-secondary table — universities and colleges. K-12 public and private schools are not in it, and only 7 of its 1,686 rows carry coordinates, so these are listed and not mapped.

InstitutionTypeStudentsFounded
National Technical University of Athens University — —

In the business register

Where schooling shows up as a business rather than an institution — which is where K-12, tutoring and childcare appear.

driving school 136university 53college 31trade school 1art school 1
10

Health and care

What a person moving a parent here would ask first. The register files clinics and pharmacies; it has no category for a hospital at all, so hospitals are matched by name and the limit is stated rather than hidden.

Medical clinics0
Pharmacies868
Dental practices0

Matched on the name "hospital"

  • Doctors' Hospital
  • Bike Hospital — Υμηττού 39
  • Doctors' Hospital
  • Metropolitan Hospital
  • Metropolitan Hospital
  • Metropolitan Hospital

geonet carries no 'hospital' trait, so these are matched on the business name. A distance-to-hospital figure needs a source that states hospital locations.

11

Mayor & politics

Who holds office here, from the official lists on /politics: the mayor and city council, and the national parliament members elected for the city. Each name opens its row there.

Mayor
not yet on file
55 on council
Member of Parliament
Athens A (Α΄ Αθηνών) — 13-member constituency, coextensive with the Municipality of Athens
Regional Governor of Attica (Περιφερειάρχης Αττικής)
88 ridings
Last election
—
Greek legislative election (Hellenic Parliament, 300 seats) — due by mid-2027, date not set

Everyone who represents Athens →

13

Funded & hiring here

Companies in this city that have raised money, and the careers pages of employers here, from the /employers research and the company database. For someone looking for work here, this is the shortlist.

Careers pages — 2 more employers here

Each link goes to the company's own careers page or official job board, not a third-party listing site. Largest local staff first.

CompanyStaff hereJobs
Athens Stock Exchange (Athex)Finance—Careers →
Kaizen GamingEntertainment—Careers →
14

What this record cannot tell you

Named in full, because the gaps are the part most likely to be misread as an answer.

  • No census figures on this page: this region is not mapped to a census subdivision in local/census-map.json, so the community counts here are business-register institutions, which is a different measurement and cannot substitute for a population.
  • wander.schools is now readable, but it holds universities and colleges only and 1,679 of its 1,686 rows have no coordinates. K-12 public and private schools need a separate source — in Ontario the Ministry of Education school finder, in British Columbia the provincial school list. wander.citytowns, hotels and territories remain denied to the ru user.
  • No 'hospital' trait exists in geonet; distance to a hospital needs an external source such as StatCan's Open Database of Healthcare Facilities.
  • 0.0% of businesses here carry no coordinates, so a map or address lookup would miss them. Postal codes reach 19.5%.

Built from

  • geonet.athens — the local business register
  • wander.regions — city name, population, metro
  • search.local — trait vocabulary and the come-to-you services
  • search.cozfranchises — 2,024 franchise brands