Former Greek prime minister Lucas Papademos is recovering well from injuries caused by a booby-trapped package exploding in his car.

Papademos, 69, who was caretaker prime minister for a few months at the peak of the debt crisis five years ago, did not have life-threatening injuries, they said on Friday.

He was being treated for superficial wounds to his abdomen and a deeper injury to his right leg from the blast, the worst act of violence against a politician in Greece for years.

Doctors treating him told reporters he was awake, breathing well and had spoken with President Prokopis Pavlopoulos.

Police are trying to trace the trail of the envelope and the post office from where it was sent to the Academy of Athens, where Papademos is president.

There was still no immediate claim of responsibility.

Greece has a history of small-scale attacks against politicians, businesses and police.

In March, police intercepted eight suspect packages at a postal sorting centre in Athens, days after letter bombs were sent to the German Finance Ministry and the International Monetary Fund in Paris.

The IMF package exploded, injuring an employee, while the one sent to Germany was caught by scanners.

A Greek urban guerilla group, Conspiracy of Fire Cells, claimed responsibility for that package.