Prostitution laws in GreeceΕλλάδα
Greece regulates prostitution under Law 2734/1999. A person may sell sexual services only with a certificate (age 18+, unmarried, widowed or divorced, no infectious disease, no listed convictions) and a personal municipal licence for specific premises, and must undergo a medical check every 15 days. Unlicensed work, renting premises to uncertified persons and group premises are criminal offences. Buying is not an offence, except knowingly having sex with a trafficking victim (Penal Code art. 323A(6)). Procuring and profiting from another person's prostitution are crimes under art. 349 of the 2019 Penal Code. A review of Law 2734/1999 was announced in the 2021–2025 gender-equality action plan; no bill was found by October 2026.
Legal model
Regulation (legal & licensed). Selling sex and running venues are legal under a licensing or registration regime.
Law 2734/1999 makes selling sex legal only for holders of a personal certificate who work from premises licensed by the municipality, with compulsory health checks. Working outside that system is itself a criminal offence, and third parties may not run or profit from other people's prostitution. Comparative studies classify Greece as 'legal and regulated', while noting that only a few licensed premises operate and most of the market is outside the licensing system.[1][2]
Regional differences
- Municipalities (licensing of premises) Regulation (legal & licensed): Under art. 3 of Law 2734/1999 the mayor or community president issues the premises licence after a favourable opinion of a committee chaired by the first-instance public prosecutor. Each municipality sets the number of licences according to local conditions, may designate areas where none are allowed, and its council may widen the statutory 200 m exclusion zone around churches, schools, hospitals, squares, playgrounds and similar sites. In practice very few licences exist, so availability of legal premises differs sharply from place to place.[2][3]
At a glance
| Question | Status | In short |
|---|---|---|
| Selling sexual services | Licensed Breach: criminal offence | Legal only with a professional certificate and a licence for specific premises, plus compulsory medical checks every 15 days. Selling without a certificate or medical checks, or in unlicensed premises, is punishable by up to two years' imprisonment and a fine.[1] |
| Buying sexual services | Legal | Buying sexual services from an adult is not an offence. A client who knowingly performs a sexual act with a trafficking victim commits an offence punishable by at least three years' imprisonment and a fine (Penal Code art. 323A(6)).[1][4] |
| Brothels and managed venues | Licensed Breach: criminal offence | Only individual licensed premises are lawful. The licence is personal to the certified sex worker, valid for two years, one per building, at least 200 m from churches, schools, hospitals and similar sites. Group premises are banned; the holder may let up to two other certified persons use the premises at different hours. Unlicensed premises are closed and sealed.[1][3][5] |
| Third parties profiting (procuring / pimping) | Illegal Criminal offence | Anyone who, professionally or for profit, promotes, pushes or forces another person into prostitution, or exploits the income from another's prostitution, is punishable by at least 18 months' imprisonment and a fine (art. 349(3)), outside the cases covered by the trafficking offence in art. 323A.[4][5] |
| Advertising sexual services | Restricted | No specific offence of advertising adult sexual services was found in Law 2734/1999 or the Penal Code. Advertising unlicensed services documents an offence under art. 5 of Law 2734/1999, and third parties who profit from others' prostitution, including through ads, risk prosecution for procuring under art. 349(3).[1][5] |
The law in detail
Selling sexual services
Legal only with a professional certificate and a licence for specific premises, plus compulsory medical checks every 15 days. Selling without a certificate or medical checks, or in unlicensed premises, is punishable by up to two years' imprisonment and a fine.[1]
Art. 1 of Law 2734/1999 lists the conditions for the certificate: at least 18 years old; unmarried, widowed or divorced; free of sexually transmitted and other infectious diseases; no mental illness or drug use; no conviction for listed offences (e.g. homicide, procuring, trafficking, robbery, drug offences); lawful residence for foreign nationals. The certificate is valid for three years and was issued by the prefectural authority in the 1999 text (prefectures were replaced by regions in 2011). Art. 2 requires a medical examination every 15 days, recorded in a health booklet. Art. 5 makes it a criminal offence to provide services without a certificate or medical checks, or from premises without a licence; it also punishes publicly pestering people with lewd gestures or remarks that invite sexual contact (up to three months).
Confidence: medium. Cited from the Lawspot reproduction of the law as published in 1999; it shows no amendments, but the official consolidated text with any later amendments could not be opened (e-nomothesia.gr returned 403, kodiko.gr is paywalled).
Checked 30 October 2026
Buying sexual services
Buying sexual services from an adult is not an offence. A client who knowingly performs a sexual act with a trafficking victim commits an offence punishable by at least three years' imprisonment and a fine (Penal Code art. 323A(6)).[1][4]
Checked 30 October 2026
Brothels and managed venues
Only individual licensed premises are lawful. The licence is personal to the certified sex worker, valid for two years, one per building, at least 200 m from churches, schools, hospitals and similar sites. Group premises are banned; the holder may let up to two other certified persons use the premises at different hours. Unlicensed premises are closed and sealed.[1][3][5]
Art. 3 of Law 2734/1999 requires the written consent of the owner (and, in a block of flats, of all co-owners and tenants). Art. 4 bans 'group professional association' on premises, allows up to two further certified persons after a written declaration to the police, and forbids a second licence in the same building. Art. 5 punishes operating unlicensed premises and renting premises to persons without a certificate (up to two years and a fine). Art. 6 allows suspension of the licence for one to three months (up to six on repeat) and closure and sealing of unlicensed premises by the mayor. A third-party operator who profits from others' prostitution falls under the procuring offence in Penal Code art. 349(3).
Confidence: medium. Later amendments to Law 2734/1999 could not be ruled out from an official consolidated text (see selling).
Checked 30 October 2026
Third parties profiting (procuring / pimping)
Anyone who, professionally or for profit, promotes, pushes or forces another person into prostitution, or exploits the income from another's prostitution, is punishable by at least 18 months' imprisonment and a fine (art. 349(3)), outside the cases covered by the trafficking offence in art. 323A.[4][5]
Checked 30 October 2026
Advertising sexual services
No specific offence of advertising adult sexual services was found in Law 2734/1999 or the Penal Code. Advertising unlicensed services documents an offence under art. 5 of Law 2734/1999, and third parties who profit from others' prostitution, including through ads, risk prosecution for procuring under art. 349(3).[1][5]
Greek police cases involving online ads are typically prosecuted as procuring (μαστροπεία) or trafficking rather than under any advertising provision. No legislation specific to ad platforms was identified; hosting services fall under the general EU Digital Services Act notice-and-action rules.
Confidence: low. Absence of an advertising offence is inferred from the texts reviewed; no case law on ad sites was located.
Checked 30 October 2026
Key legislation
| Law | What it does here | In force |
|---|---|---|
| Νόμος 2734/1999 – Εκδιδόμενα με αμοιβή πρόσωπα και άλλες διατάξεις (ΦΕΚ Α' 161/05.08.1999) Law 2734/1999 on persons who provide sexual services for payment and other provisions arts. 1–6 | Certificate, health checks, premises licensing, criminal and administrative sanctions for prostitution outside the system.[1] | 5 August 1999 |
| Άρθρο 349 – Ποινικός Κώδικας (Νόμος 4619/2019) – Μαστροπεία Penal Code (Law 4619/2019), art. 349 Procuring art. 349 | Criminalises professional or profit-driven promotion of, or living off, another person's prostitution.[5] | |
| Άρθρο 323Α – Ποινικός Κώδικας (Νόμος 4619/2019) – Εμπορία ανθρώπων Penal Code (Law 4619/2019), art. 323A Trafficking in human beings art. 323A(5) · art. 323A(6) | Trafficking offence, including the client offence of knowingly having a sexual act with a trafficking victim (para. 6).[4] |
Pending and under review
Under review · updated November 2021
Review of Law 2734/1999 (National Action Plan for Gender Equality 2021–2025, Action 1.4.3)
The government's gender-equality action plan for 2021–2025 lists a re-examination of Law 2734/1999 under Action 1.4.3 (trafficking, prostitution and survival sex) and states that a working group at the Ministry of Citizen Protection had reached a first conclusion. No resulting bill was found by October 2026.[6]
Timeline
- 5 August 1999Law 2734/1999 published (Government Gazette A 161), replacing the prostitution chapter of Law 1193/1981.[1]
- 11 June 2019New Penal Code (Law 4619/2019) published; art. 349(3) now covers procuring of any person (the former text referred to women) and exploiting the income from another's prostitution.[5][7][8]
- November 2021National Action Plan for Gender Equality 2021–2025 announces a review of Law 2734/1999.[6]
Sources
- Νόμος 2734/1999 – Εκδιδόμενα με αμοιβή πρόσωπα και άλλες διατάξεις (ΦΕΚ Α' 161/05.08.1999) (Law 2734/1999 – Persons who provide sexual services for payment and other provisions). Lawspot.gr (reproduction of the Government Gazette text), 5 August 1999. legislation · accessed 30 October 2026
- The differing EU Member States' regulations on prostitution and their cross-border implications on women's rights. European Parliament, Policy Department for Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs, September 2021. parliament · accessed 30 October 2026
- Άρθρο 3 – Νόμος 2734/1999 – Εγκατάσταση προσώπων εκδιδομένων με αμοιβή (Article 3 of Law 2734/1999 – Premises of persons providing sexual services for payment). Lawspot.gr (reproduction of the Government Gazette text), 5 August 1999. legislation · accessed 30 October 2026
- Άρθρο 323Α – Ποινικός Κώδικας (Νόμος 4619/2019) – Εμπορία ανθρώπων (Article 323A of the Penal Code (Law 4619/2019) – Trafficking in human beings). Lawspot.gr (reproduction of the Government Gazette text). legislation · accessed 30 October 2026
- Άρθρο 349 – Ποινικός Κώδικας (Νόμος 4619/2019) – Μαστροπεία (Article 349 of the Penal Code (Law 4619/2019) – Procuring). Lawspot.gr (reproduction of the Government Gazette text). legislation · accessed 30 October 2026
- Εθνικό Σχέδιο Δράσης για την Ισότητα των Φύλων 2021-2025 (National Action Plan for Gender Equality 2021–2025). General Secretariat for Demography, Family Policy and Gender Equality, November 2021. government · accessed 30 October 2026
- Νόμος 4619/2019 – Κύρωση του Ποινικού Κώδικα (ΦΕΚ Α' 95/11.06.2019), κωδικοποιημένος (Law 4619/2019 – Ratification of the Penal Code (consolidated)). Taxheaven.gr (consolidated reproduction), 11 June 2019. legislation · accessed 30 October 2026
- Άρθρο 349 – Ποινικός Κώδικας (Π.Δ. 283/1985) – Μαστροπεία (Article 349 of the former Penal Code (P.D. 283/1985) – Procuring). Lawspot.gr (reproduction of the Government Gazette text). legislation · accessed 30 October 2026