Economy of Greece
Encyclopedia
The economy of Greece
is the 32nd largest in the world by nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and the 37th largest at purchasing power parity
(PPP), according to data by the World Bank
for the year 2010. Per capita, it is ranked 33rd by nominal GDP and 31st at PPP according to the 2010 data.
A developed country
, Greece is a member of the European Union
, the eurozone
, the OECD
, the World Trade Organization
and the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization
.
The service sector contributes 78.8% of GDP, industry 17.9%, and agriculture 3.3%. The public sector
accounts for about 40% of total economic output. Greece is the 31st most globalized country
in the world and is classified as a high-income economy.
) has been little researched. Recent research examines the gradual development of industry and further development of shipping in a predominantly agricultural economy, calculating an average rate of per capita GDP growth between 1833 and 1911 that was only slightly lower than that of the other Western European nations. Nonetheless, Greece faced economic hardships and defaulted on its loans in 1826, 1843, 1860 and 1893.
Other studies support the above view on the general trends in the economy, providing comparative measures of standard of living. The per capita income (in purchasing power terms) of Greece was 65% that of France in 1850, 56% in 1890, 62% in 1938, 75% in 1980, 90% in 2007, 96.4% in 2008, 97.9% in 2009 and larger than countries such as South Korea, Italy, and Israel. The country's post-World War II development has largely been connected with the so-called Greek economic miracle
.
Greece enjoys a high standard of living
and "very high" Human Development Index
, ranking 29th in the world in 2011, and 22nd on The Economist
's 2005 worldwide quality-of-life index. According to Eurostat
data, GDP per inhabitant in purchasing power standards (PPS) stood at 94 per cent of the EU average in 2008.
Greece's main industries are tourism, shipping, industrial products, food and tobacco processing, textiles, chemicals, metal products, mining and petroleum. Greece's GDP growth has also, as an average, since the early 1990s been higher than the EU average. However, the Greek economy also faces significant problems, including rapidly rising unemployment levels, an inefficient public sector bureaucracy
, tax evasion
, corruption
and low global competitiveness
.
Greece has the EU's second lowest Corruption Perceptions Index
after Bulgaria
, ranking 80th in the world, and the lowest Index of Economic Freedom
and Global Competitiveness Index
, ranking 88th and 90th respectively. Corruption, together with the associated issue of poor standards of tax collection, is widely regarded as both a key cause of the current troubles in the economy and a key hurdle in terms of overcoming the country's debt problem.
After 15 consecutive years of economic growth, Greece went into recession in 2009. An indication of the trend of over-lending in recent years is the fact that the ratio of loans to savings exceeded 100% during the first half of the year.
By the end of 2009, the Greek economy (based on data revised on 15 November 2010 in part due to reclassification of expenses) faced the highest budget deficit and government debt to GDP ratios in the EU. The 2009 budget deficit stood at 15.4% of GDP. This, and rising debt levels (127% of GDP in 2009) led to rising borrowing costs, resulting in a severe economic crisis. Greece was accused of trying to cover up the extent of its massive budget deficit in the wake of the global financial crisis. This resulted from the massive revision of the 2009 budget deficit forecast by the new Socialist government elected in October 2009, from "6–8%" (estimated by the previous government) to 12.7% (later revised to 15.4%).
The Greek labor force, which totals approximately , works the second highest number of hours per year on average among OECD countries, after South Korea. The Groningen Growth & Development Centre
has published a poll revealing that between 1995 and 2005, Greece was the country whose workers worked the most hours/year among European nations; Greeks worked an average of 1,900 hours per year, followed by Spaniards (average of 1,800 hours/year).
As a result of the on-going economic crisis, industrial production in the country went down by 8% between March 2010 and March 2011, One of the sectors hardest hit has been the garment industry, a traditional mainstay of the economy. while the volume of building activity saw a reduction of 73.1% between January 2010 and January 2011. Additionally, the turnover in retail sales saw a decline of 9% between February 2010 and February 2011.
Between 2008 and 2011 unemployment skyrocketed, from a generational low of 7.2% in the second and third quarters of 2008 to a high of 18.4% in August 2011, leaving more than 900,000 without a job. In the final quarter of 2010, youth unemployment reached 36.1%.
by the European Council
on 19 June 2000, based on a number of criteria (inflation rate, budget deficit, public debt, long-term interest rates, exchange rate) using 1999 as the reference year. After an audit
commissioned by the incoming New Democracy
government in 2004, Eurostat
revealed that the statistics for the budget deficit had been under-reported.
Most of the differences in the revised budget deficit numbers were due to a temporary change of accounting practices by the new government, i.e., recording expenses when military material was ordered rather than received. However, it was the retroactive application of ESA95 methodology (applied since 2000) by Eurostat, that finally raised the reference year (1999) budget deficit to 3.38% of GDP, thus exceeding the 3% limit. This led to claims that Greece (similar claims have been made about other European countries like Italy)
had not actually met all five accession criteria, and the common perception that Greece entered the Eurozone through "falsified" deficit numbers. In the 2005 OECD report for Greece, it was clearly stated that “the impact of new accounting rules on the fiscal figures for the years 1997 to 1999 ranged from 0.7 to 1 percentage point of GDP; this retroactive change of methodology was responsible for the revised deficit exceeding 3% in 1999, the year of [Greece's] EMU membership qualification”. The above led the Greek minister of finance to clarify that the 1999 budget deficit was below the prescribed 3% limit when calculated with the ESA79 methodology in force at the time of Greece's application, and thus the criteria had been met.
The original accounting practice for military expenses was later restored in line with Eurostat recommendations, theoretically lowering even the ESA95-calculated 1999 Greek budget deficit to below 3% (an official Eurostat calculation is still pending for 1999).
In 2010, the Greek Government estimated its 2009 deficit would be 12.5 per cent of gross domestic product, far above 3.7 per cent predicted in April. It revised its 2008 deficit up to 7.7 per cent from 5 per cent. The European Commission in 2010 said figures from Greece were so unreliable that its budget deficit and public debt might be even higher than the government had claimed in 2009.
An error very frequently made in press reports is the confusion of the discussion regarding Greece’s Eurozone entry with the controversy regarding usage of derivatives’ deals with U.S. Banks by Greece and other Eurozone countries to artificially reduce their reported budget deficits. A currency swap arranged with Goldman Sachs
allowed Greece to “hide” $1 billion of debt, however, this affected deficit values after 2001 (when Greece had already been admitted into the Eurozone) and is not related to Greece’s Eurozone entry.
A study by forensic accountants has found that data submitted by Greece to Eurostat had a statistical distribution indicative of manipulation.
since the restoration of democracy in 1974 as the Greek government revised its deficit from an estimated 6% to 12.7% of gross domestic product (GDP).
In early 2010, it was revealed that successive Greek governments had been found to have consistently and deliberately misreported the country's official economic statistics to keep within the monetary union guidelines. This had enabled Greek governments to spend beyond their means, while hiding the actual deficit from the EU overseers. In May 2010, the Greek government deficit was again revised and estimated to be 13.6% which was one of the highest in the world relative to GDP and public debt was forecast, according to some estimates, to hit 120% of GDP during 2010, one of the highest rates in the world.
As a consequence, there was a crisis in international confidence in Greece's ability to repay its sovereign debt. In order to avert such a default, in May 2010 the other Eurozone countries, and the IMF, agreed to a rescue package which involved giving Greece an immediate € in bail-out loans, with more funds to follow, totaling €. In order to secure the funding, Greece was required to adopt harsh austerity measures to bring its deficit under control. Their implementation will be monitored and evaluated by the European Commission
, the European Central Bank
and the IMF.
On 15 November 2010 the EU's statistics body Eurostat revised the public finance and debt figure for Greece following an excessive deficit procedure methodological mission in Athens, and put Greece's 2009 government deficit at 15.4% of GDP and public debt at 126.8% of GDP making it the biggest deficit (as a percentage of GDP) amongst the EU member nations (although some have speculated that Ireland's in 2010 may prove to be worse).
The financial crisis – particularly the austerity
package put forth by the EU and the IMF – has been met with anger by the Greek public, leading to riots and social unrest.
's largest producer of cotton
(183.8 thousand tons) and ranked second in the production of rice
(229.5 thousand tons) and olive
s (147.5 thousand tons), third in the production of fig
s (11 thousand tons), tomato
es (1.4 million tons) and water melons (578.4 thousand tons) and fourth in the production of tobacco
(22 thousand tons). Agriculture contributes 3.3% of the country's GDP and employs 12% of the country's labor force.
Greece is a major beneficiary of the Common Agricultural Policy
of the European Union. As a result of the country's entry to the European Community, much of its agricultural infrastructure has been upgraded and agricultural output increased. Between 2000 and 2007 organic farming
in Greece increased by 885%, the highest change percentage in the EU.
In 2007, Greece accounted for 19% of the EU's fishing haul in the Mediterranean sea
, ranked third with 85,493 tons, and ranked first in the number of fishing vessels in the Mediterranean between European Union members. Additionally, the country ranked 11th in the EU in total quantity of fish caught, with 87,461 tons.
Shipping has traditionally been a key sector in the Greek economy since ancient times. In 1813, the Greek merchant navy was made up of 615 ships. Its total tonnage was 153,580 tons and was manned with 37,526 crewmembers and 5,878 cannons. During the 1960s, the size of the Greek fleet nearly doubled, primarily through the investment undertaken by the shipping magnates Onassis
and Niarchos
. The basis of the modern Greek maritime industry was formed after World War II when Greek shipping businessmen were able to amass surplus ships sold to them by the United States Government through the Ship Sales Act of the 1940s.
Currently Greece has the largest merchant navy
in the world as a percentage of the world's total dwt
, at 15.96% according to a United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
2010 report. Although a drop from the capacity of 18.2% of the world's total that the country's merchant fleet controlled in 2006, the Greek Merchant Navy is still the largest, but followed closely by that of Japan, at 15.73%. The Greek merchant navy's total dwt
is 186 million. Japan is second with 183 million, but China, which is ranked third, stands at 104 million. This comes to show that, although the Japanese merchant navy appears to be challenging the supremacy of the Greek one in terms of dwt, the Greek merchant navy's total dwt is not comparable to any other nation other than Japan. Additionally, Greece represents 41.49% of all of the European Union
's dwt. However, today's fleet roster is smaller than an all-time high of 5,000 ships in the late 1970s.
Greece is also ranked in the top 5 country merchant fleets by number of ships. In the same 2010 United Nations report, the Greek merchant navy came fourth with 3,150 ships, after Japan, China and Germany. There is a significant gap between Greece and Russia, which came fifth with 1,987 ships. A European Community Shipowners' Association report for 2010-2011 reveals that the Greek flag
is the fifth-most-used internationally for shipping, while it ranks first in the EU
.
In terms of ship categories, Greece controls 22.5% of the world's tankers and 16.8% of the world's bulk carriers (in dwt). An additional equivalent of 20.05% of the world's tanker dwt is on order, with another 12.1% of bulk carriers also on order. Today, shipping is one of the country's most important industries. It accounts for 6% of GDP, employs about 160,000 people (4% of the workforce), and represents 1/3 of the country's trade deficit. Earnings from shipping amounted to €15.4 billion in 2010, while between 2000 and 2010 Greek shipping contributed a total of €140 billion (half of the country's public debt in 2009 and 3.5 times the receipts from the European Union
in the period 2000-2013). The same ECSA report showed that there are approximately 750 Greek shipping companies in operation.
Between 1949 and the 1980s, telephone
communications in Greece were a state monopoly by the Hellenic Telecommunications Organization
, better known by its acronym, OTE. Despite the liberalization of telephone communications in the country in the 1980s, OTE still dominates the Greek market in its field and has emerged as one of the largest telecommunications companies in South-eastern Europe. Since 2011, the majority share holder at OTE is Deutsche Telekom
, with 40%, while the Greek state has 10% of the company's shares. OTE owns a total of 13 subsidiaries in four countries across the Balkans
, including Greece's top mobile telecommunications provider, Cosmote
.
Other mobile telecommunications companies active in Greece are Wind Hellas and Vodafone Greece
. The total number of active cellular phone accounts in the country in 2009 based on statistics from the country's mobline phone providers was over 20 million, a penetration of 180%. Additionally, there are 5.93 million active landlines in the country.
Greece ranks very low in the European Union in terms of individual internet use. Out of the organization's 27 members, Greece ranked 26th, tied with Bulgaria
, with just 47%. This is well below the EU average of 69%, and even more so when compared to other nations within the Union (Sweden
, 91%). Respectively, Greece ranks very high (second in the European Union) in number of people who have never used the internet, at 52%. Greece's total internet users for 2009 numbered 4.791 million.
Tourism in the modern sense has only started to flourish in Greece in the years post-1950, although in ancient times, following the annexation of Greece by the Roman Empire
, a great deal of wealthy Romans visited the country's centers of learning to further educate themselves. Since the 1960s and 1970s, the tourism sector saw a boost, which was further renewed when Greece hosted the 2004 Summer Olympics
.
Greece attracts more than 16 million tourists each year, thus contributing between 18.2% to the nation's GDP in 2008 according to an OECD report. The same survey showed that the average tourist expenditure while in Greece was $1,073, ranking Greece 10th in the world. The number of jobs directly or indirectly related to the tourism sector were 840,000 in 2008 and represented 19% of the country's total labor force. In 2009, Greece welcomed over 19.3 million tourists, a major increase from the 17.7 million tourists the country welcomed in 2008.
The ministry responsible for tourism is the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, while Greece also owns the Greek National Tourism Organization which aims in promoting tourism in Greece.
In recent years a number of well-known tourism-related organizations have placed Greek destinations in the top of their lists. In 2009 Lonely Planet
ranked Thessaloniki
, the country's second-largest city, the world's fifth best "Ultimate Party Town", alongside cities such as Montreal
and Dubai
, while in 2011 the island of Santorini
was voted as the best island in the world by Travel + Leisure
. The neighbouring island of Mykonos
was ranked as the 5th best island in Europe.
, but 15 offer international services. Additionally Greece has 9 heliports. Greece does not have a flag carrier
, but the country's airline industry is dominated by Olympic Air
, the largest airline by number of destinations served, and Aegean Airlines
, the largest airline by number of passengers carried. Between 1975 and 2009 Olympic Airlines
was the country's flag carrier, but financial problems lead to its privatization in 2009. Both Olympic Air and Aegean have won awards for their services; in 2009 and 2011 Aegean Airlines was awarded the "Best regional airline in Europe" award by Skytrax
, and also has two gold and one silver awards by the ERA, while Olympic Air holds one silver ERA award for "Airline of the Year" as well as a "Condé Nast Traveller
2011 Readers Choice Awards: Top Domestic Airline" award.
The Greek road network is made up of 116,711 km of roads, of which 948 km are highways, ranking 37th worldwide. Since the entry of Greece to the European Community (now the European Union
), a number of important projects (such as the Egnatia Odos
and the Attiki Odos
) have been co-funded by the organization, helping to upgrade the country's road network. In 2007, Greece ranked 8th in the European Union in goods transported by road, at almost 500 million tons.
Greece's rail network
is estimated to be at 2,548 km. Rail transport in Greece is operated by TrainOSE
, a subsidiary of the Hellenic Railways Organization (OSE). Most of the country's network is standard gauge
(1,565 km), while the country also has 983 km of narrow gauge
. A total of 764 km or rail are electrified. Greece has rail connections with Bulgaria
, the Republic of Macedonia
and Turkey
. A total of two suburban railway systems (Proastiakos
) are in operation (in Athens
and Thessaloniki
), while one metro
system is operational in Athens
with another under construction
.
According to Eurostat
, Greece's largest port by tons of goods transported in 2010 is the port of Aghioi Theodoroi, with 17.38 million tons. The Port of Thessaloniki
comes second with 15.8 million tons, followed by the Port of Piraeus
, with 13.2 million tons, and the port of Eleusis, with 12.37 million tons. The total number of goods transported through Greece in 2010 amounted to 124.38 million tons, a considerable drop from the 164.3 million tons transported through the country in 2007. In 2010 Piraeus handled 513,319 TEU
s, followed by Thessaloniki, which handled 273,282 TEUs. In the same year, 83.9 million people passed through Greece's ports, 12.7 million through the port of Paloukia in Salamis
, another 12.7 through the port of Perama
, 9.5 million through Piraeus
and 2.7 million through Igoumenitsa
.
, a drop from the 51.6% in 2009. Another 12% comes from Hydroelectric power plants and another 20% from natural gas
. Between 2009 and 2010, independent companies' energy production increased by 168%, from 2,709 Gigawatt hour in 2009 to 4,232 GWh in 2010.
In 2008 renewable energy accounted for 8% of the country's total energy consumption, a rise from the 7.2% it accounted for in 2006, but still below the EU average of 10% in 2008. 10% of the country's renewable energy comes from solar power
, while most comes from biomass
and waste recycling. In line with the European Commission
's Directive on Renewable Energy, Greece aims to get 18% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. Greece currently does not have any nuclear power plant
s in operation, however in 2009 the Academy of Athens
suggested that research in the possibility of Greek nuclear power plants begin.
Greece has 10 million barrel
s of proved oil reserves
as of 1 January 2011. Hellenic Petroleum
is the country's largest oil company, followed by Motor Oil Hellas. Greece's oil production stands at 7,946 barrels per day (bbl/d), ranked 90th, while it exports 181,600 bbl/d (57th) and imports 496,600 bbl/d (25th). In 2011 the Greek government approved the start of oil exploration and drilling in three locations within Greece, with an estimated output of 250 to 300 million barrels over the next 15 to 20 years. The estimated output in Euro
s of the three deposits is €25 billion over a 15-year period, of which €13–€14 billion will enter state coffers. Greece's dispute with Turkey over the Aegean
poses substantial obstacles to oil exploration in the Aegean Sea
.
A number of oil and gas pipelines are currently under construction or under planning in the country. The Burgas
–Alexandroupoli
pipeline, which will transport oil from Russia
to Bulgaria
, Greece and then Europe
and North America
, is an €800 million investment of which 23.5% comes from Greek companies and another 1% by the Greek state. Other such projects include the Interconnector Turkey-Greece-Italy (ITGI) and South Stream gas pipelines.
, movable property (investment), income from agriculture, business, employment, and income from professional activities. Greece's personal income tax rate currently ranges from 0% for incomes below €12,000 and 45% for incomes over €100,000. Under the new 2010 tax reform, tax exemption
s have been abolished. Greece's corporate tax
has dropped from 40% in 2000 to 20% in 2010. For 2011 only, corporate tax will be at 24%. Value added tax
(VAT) has gone up in 2010 compared to 2009: 23% as opposed to 19%. The lowest VAT possible is 6.5% (previously 4.5%) for newspapers, periodicals and cultural event tickets, while a tax rate of 13% (from 9%) applies to certain service sector professions. Additionally, both employers and employees have to pay social contribution taxes, which apply at a rate of 16% for white collar
jobs and 19.5% for blue collar
jobs, and are used for social insurance
.
Greece suffers from very high levels of tax evasion. In the last quarter of 2005, tax evasion reached 49%, while in January 2006 it fell to 41.6%. The Tax Justice Network
has said that there are over €20 billion in Swiss
bank accounts held by Greeks. The current Finance Minister of Greece, Evangelos Venizelos, was quoted as saying “Around 15,000 individuals and companies owe the taxman 37 billion euros”. Additionally, the TJN puts the number of Greek-owned off-shore companies
to over 10,000.
Following similar actions by the United Kingdom
and Germany
, the Greek government is in talks with Switzerland
in order to tax bank accounts in Switzerland owned by Greek citizens. The Ministry of Finance has revealed that Greek Swiss bank account holders will either have to pay a tax or reveal information such as the identity of the bank account holder to the Greek internal revenue services. The Greek and Swiss governments are to reach a deal on the matter by the end of 2011.
The Ministry of Finance expects tax revenues for 2012 to be €52.7 billion (€23.6 billion in direct taxes and €29.1 billion in indirect taxes), an increase of 5.8% from 2011. In 2012 the government is expected to have considerably higher tax revenues than in 2011 on a number of sectors, primarily housing (an increase of 217.5% from 2011).
, Greece's most economically important regions in 2008 were Attica (which contributed €103.334 billion to the economy) followed by Central Macedonia
(€35.458 billion), Thessaly
(€12.905 billion), Crete
(€12.854 billion) and Central Greece
(€12.530 billion). The least important were the North Aegean
(€3.579 billion) and the Ionian Islands (€4.646 billion).
In terms of GDP per capita, the South Aegean
ranks first (€28,300), followed by Attica (€28,200) and Central Greece (€25,100). East Macedonia and Thrace
(€16,600) and West Greece
(€18,200) have the lowest values. Greece's average GDP per capita in 2008 was €23,100, below the EU average of €25,000.
which provides a number of social services such as universal health care
and pension
s. In the 2012 budget, expenses for the welfare state (excluding education) stand at an estimated €22.487 billion (€6.577 billion for pensions and €15.910 billion for social security and health care expenses), or 31.9% of the all state expenses.
, Greece vowed to join the Eurozone
, which occurred on 1 January 2002. At the time of the adoption of the Euro
the exchange rate was ₯340.75 to €1.
Prior to the adoption of the Euro, the majority of Greek people had a positive view of the new currency (64%). In February and June 2005 however this number fell considerably, to only 26% and 20% respectively. Since 2010 the number has risen again, and a survey in September 2011 showed that 63% of Greeks had a positive view of the Euro.
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
is the 32nd largest in the world by nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and the 37th largest at purchasing power parity
Purchasing power parity
In economics, purchasing power parity is a condition between countries where an amount of money has the same purchasing power in different countries. The prices of the goods between the countries would only reflect the exchange rates...
(PPP), according to data by the World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
for the year 2010. Per capita, it is ranked 33rd by nominal GDP and 31st at PPP according to the 2010 data.
A developed country
Developed country
A developed country is a country that has a high level of development according to some criteria. Which criteria, and which countries are classified as being developed, is a contentious issue...
, Greece is a member of the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
, the eurozone
Eurozone
The eurozone , officially called the euro area, is an economic and monetary union of seventeen European Union member states that have adopted the euro as their common currency and sole legal tender...
, the OECD
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development is an international economic organisation of 34 countries founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and world trade...
, the World Trade Organization
World Trade Organization
The World Trade Organization is an organization that intends to supervise and liberalize international trade. The organization officially commenced on January 1, 1995 under the Marrakech Agreement, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade , which commenced in 1948...
and the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization
Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation
On 25 June 1992, the Heads of State and Government of eleven countries signed in Istanbul the Summit Declaration and the Bosporus Statement giving birth to the Black Sea Economic Cooperation ...
.
The service sector contributes 78.8% of GDP, industry 17.9%, and agriculture 3.3%. The public sector
Public sector
The public sector, sometimes referred to as the state sector, is a part of the state that deals with either the production, delivery and allocation of goods and services by and for the government or its citizens, whether national, regional or local/municipal.Examples of public sector activity range...
accounts for about 40% of total economic output. Greece is the 31st most globalized country
Globalization Index
This article includes a list of countries of the world sorted by their globalization, the global connectivity, integration and interdependence in the economic, social, technological, cultural, political, and ecological spheres....
in the world and is classified as a high-income economy.
History
The evolution of the Greek economy during the 19th century (a period that transformed a large part of the world due to the Industrial revolutionIndustrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
) has been little researched. Recent research examines the gradual development of industry and further development of shipping in a predominantly agricultural economy, calculating an average rate of per capita GDP growth between 1833 and 1911 that was only slightly lower than that of the other Western European nations. Nonetheless, Greece faced economic hardships and defaulted on its loans in 1826, 1843, 1860 and 1893.
Other studies support the above view on the general trends in the economy, providing comparative measures of standard of living. The per capita income (in purchasing power terms) of Greece was 65% that of France in 1850, 56% in 1890, 62% in 1938, 75% in 1980, 90% in 2007, 96.4% in 2008, 97.9% in 2009 and larger than countries such as South Korea, Italy, and Israel. The country's post-World War II development has largely been connected with the so-called Greek economic miracle
Greek economic miracle
The "Greek economic miracle" was the high rate of economic and social development in Greece from 1950 to 1973. The economy grew an average of 7% a year, second in the world only to Japan during that period. Growth rates were highest during the 1950s, often exceeding 10%, close to those of a modern...
.
Strengths and weaknesses
Standard of living
Standard of living is generally measured by standards such as real income per person and poverty rate. Other measures such as access and quality of health care, income growth inequality and educational standards are also used. Examples are access to certain goods , or measures of health such as...
and "very high" Human Development Index
Human Development Index
The Human Development Index is a composite statistic used to rank countries by level of "human development" and separate "very high human development", "high human development", "medium human development", and "low human development" countries...
, ranking 29th in the world in 2011, and 22nd on The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
's 2005 worldwide quality-of-life index. According to Eurostat
Eurostat
Eurostat is a Directorate-General of the European Commission located in Luxembourg. Its main responsibilities are to provide the European Union with statistical information at European level and to promote the integration of statistical methods across the Member States of the European Union,...
data, GDP per inhabitant in purchasing power standards (PPS) stood at 94 per cent of the EU average in 2008.
Greece's main industries are tourism, shipping, industrial products, food and tobacco processing, textiles, chemicals, metal products, mining and petroleum. Greece's GDP growth has also, as an average, since the early 1990s been higher than the EU average. However, the Greek economy also faces significant problems, including rapidly rising unemployment levels, an inefficient public sector bureaucracy
Bureaucracy
A bureaucracy is an organization of non-elected officials of a governmental or organization who implement the rules, laws, and functions of their institution, and are occasionally characterized by officialism and red tape.-Weberian bureaucracy:...
, tax evasion
Tax evasion
Tax evasion is the general term for efforts by individuals, corporations, trusts and other entities to evade taxes by illegal means. Tax evasion usually entails taxpayers deliberately misrepresenting or concealing the true state of their affairs to the tax authorities to reduce their tax liability,...
, corruption
Corruption
Corruption usually refers to spiritual or moral impurity.Corruption may also refer to:* Corruption , an American crime film* Corruption , a British horror film...
and low global competitiveness
Competitiveness
Competitiveness is a comparative concept of the ability and performance of a firm, sub-sector or country to sell and supply goods and/or services in a given market...
.
Greece has the EU's second lowest Corruption Perceptions Index
Corruption Perceptions Index
Since 1995, Transparency International publishes the Corruption Perceptions Index annually ranking countries "by their perceived levels of corruption, as determined by expert assessments and opinion surveys." The CPI generally defines corruption as "the misuse of public power for private...
after Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, ranking 80th in the world, and the lowest Index of Economic Freedom
Index of Economic Freedom
The Index of Economic Freedom is a series of 10 economic measurements created by The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal. Its stated objective is to measure the degree of economic freedom in the world's nations....
and Global Competitiveness Index
Global Competitiveness Report
The Global Competitiveness Report is a yearly report published by the World Economic Forum. The first report was released in 1979. The 2011–2012 report covers 142 major and emerging economies....
, ranking 88th and 90th respectively. Corruption, together with the associated issue of poor standards of tax collection, is widely regarded as both a key cause of the current troubles in the economy and a key hurdle in terms of overcoming the country's debt problem.
After 15 consecutive years of economic growth, Greece went into recession in 2009. An indication of the trend of over-lending in recent years is the fact that the ratio of loans to savings exceeded 100% during the first half of the year.
By the end of 2009, the Greek economy (based on data revised on 15 November 2010 in part due to reclassification of expenses) faced the highest budget deficit and government debt to GDP ratios in the EU. The 2009 budget deficit stood at 15.4% of GDP. This, and rising debt levels (127% of GDP in 2009) led to rising borrowing costs, resulting in a severe economic crisis. Greece was accused of trying to cover up the extent of its massive budget deficit in the wake of the global financial crisis. This resulted from the massive revision of the 2009 budget deficit forecast by the new Socialist government elected in October 2009, from "6–8%" (estimated by the previous government) to 12.7% (later revised to 15.4%).
The Greek labor force, which totals approximately , works the second highest number of hours per year on average among OECD countries, after South Korea. The Groningen Growth & Development Centre
University of Groningen
The University of Groningen , located in the city of Groningen, was founded in 1614. It is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands as well as one of its largest. Since its inception more than 100,000 students have graduated...
has published a poll revealing that between 1995 and 2005, Greece was the country whose workers worked the most hours/year among European nations; Greeks worked an average of 1,900 hours per year, followed by Spaniards (average of 1,800 hours/year).
As a result of the on-going economic crisis, industrial production in the country went down by 8% between March 2010 and March 2011, One of the sectors hardest hit has been the garment industry, a traditional mainstay of the economy. while the volume of building activity saw a reduction of 73.1% between January 2010 and January 2011. Additionally, the turnover in retail sales saw a decline of 9% between February 2010 and February 2011.
Between 2008 and 2011 unemployment skyrocketed, from a generational low of 7.2% in the second and third quarters of 2008 to a high of 18.4% in August 2011, leaving more than 900,000 without a job. In the final quarter of 2010, youth unemployment reached 36.1%.
Eurozone entry
Greece was accepted into the Economic and Monetary Union of the European UnionEconomic and Monetary Union of the European Union
The Economic and Monetary Union is an umbrella term for the group of policies aimed at converging the economies of members of the European Union in three stages so as to allow them to adopt a single currency, the euro. As such, it is largely synonymous with the eurozone.All member states of the...
by the European Council
European Council
The European Council is an institution of the European Union. It comprises the heads of state or government of the EU member states, along with the President of the European Commission and the President of the European Council, currently Herman Van Rompuy...
on 19 June 2000, based on a number of criteria (inflation rate, budget deficit, public debt, long-term interest rates, exchange rate) using 1999 as the reference year. After an audit
Greek Financial Audit, 2004
The 2004 Financial Audit for the Country of Greece described the state of the Greek economy, but some people and organizations have questioned the accuracy of the resulting numbers.-Context:...
commissioned by the incoming New Democracy
New Democracy (Greece)
New Democracy is the main centre-right political party and one of the two major parties in Greece. It was founded in 1974 by Konstantinos Karamanlis and formed the first cabinet of the Third Hellenic Republic...
government in 2004, Eurostat
Eurostat
Eurostat is a Directorate-General of the European Commission located in Luxembourg. Its main responsibilities are to provide the European Union with statistical information at European level and to promote the integration of statistical methods across the Member States of the European Union,...
revealed that the statistics for the budget deficit had been under-reported.
Most of the differences in the revised budget deficit numbers were due to a temporary change of accounting practices by the new government, i.e., recording expenses when military material was ordered rather than received. However, it was the retroactive application of ESA95 methodology (applied since 2000) by Eurostat, that finally raised the reference year (1999) budget deficit to 3.38% of GDP, thus exceeding the 3% limit. This led to claims that Greece (similar claims have been made about other European countries like Italy)
had not actually met all five accession criteria, and the common perception that Greece entered the Eurozone through "falsified" deficit numbers. In the 2005 OECD report for Greece, it was clearly stated that “the impact of new accounting rules on the fiscal figures for the years 1997 to 1999 ranged from 0.7 to 1 percentage point of GDP; this retroactive change of methodology was responsible for the revised deficit exceeding 3% in 1999, the year of [Greece's] EMU membership qualification”. The above led the Greek minister of finance to clarify that the 1999 budget deficit was below the prescribed 3% limit when calculated with the ESA79 methodology in force at the time of Greece's application, and thus the criteria had been met.
The original accounting practice for military expenses was later restored in line with Eurostat recommendations, theoretically lowering even the ESA95-calculated 1999 Greek budget deficit to below 3% (an official Eurostat calculation is still pending for 1999).
In 2010, the Greek Government estimated its 2009 deficit would be 12.5 per cent of gross domestic product, far above 3.7 per cent predicted in April. It revised its 2008 deficit up to 7.7 per cent from 5 per cent. The European Commission in 2010 said figures from Greece were so unreliable that its budget deficit and public debt might be even higher than the government had claimed in 2009.
An error very frequently made in press reports is the confusion of the discussion regarding Greece’s Eurozone entry with the controversy regarding usage of derivatives’ deals with U.S. Banks by Greece and other Eurozone countries to artificially reduce their reported budget deficits. A currency swap arranged with Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is an American multinational bulge bracket investment banking and securities firm that engages in global investment banking, securities, investment management, and other financial services primarily with institutional clients...
allowed Greece to “hide” $1 billion of debt, however, this affected deficit values after 2001 (when Greece had already been admitted into the Eurozone) and is not related to Greece’s Eurozone entry.
A study by forensic accountants has found that data submitted by Greece to Eurostat had a statistical distribution indicative of manipulation.
2010–2011 government debt crisis
By the end of 2009, as a result of a combination of international and local factors (respectively, the world financial crisis and uncontrolled government spending), the Greek economy faced its most-severe crisis2010 European sovereign debt crisis
From late 2009, fears of a sovereign debt crisis developed among investors concerning some European states, intensifying in early 2010 and thereafter.....
since the restoration of democracy in 1974 as the Greek government revised its deficit from an estimated 6% to 12.7% of gross domestic product (GDP).
In early 2010, it was revealed that successive Greek governments had been found to have consistently and deliberately misreported the country's official economic statistics to keep within the monetary union guidelines. This had enabled Greek governments to spend beyond their means, while hiding the actual deficit from the EU overseers. In May 2010, the Greek government deficit was again revised and estimated to be 13.6% which was one of the highest in the world relative to GDP and public debt was forecast, according to some estimates, to hit 120% of GDP during 2010, one of the highest rates in the world.
As a consequence, there was a crisis in international confidence in Greece's ability to repay its sovereign debt. In order to avert such a default, in May 2010 the other Eurozone countries, and the IMF, agreed to a rescue package which involved giving Greece an immediate € in bail-out loans, with more funds to follow, totaling €. In order to secure the funding, Greece was required to adopt harsh austerity measures to bring its deficit under control. Their implementation will be monitored and evaluated by the European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
, the European Central Bank
European Central Bank
The European Central Bank is the institution of the European Union that administers the monetary policy of the 17 EU Eurozone member states. It is thus one of the world's most important central banks. The bank was established by the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1998, and is headquartered in Frankfurt,...
and the IMF.
On 15 November 2010 the EU's statistics body Eurostat revised the public finance and debt figure for Greece following an excessive deficit procedure methodological mission in Athens, and put Greece's 2009 government deficit at 15.4% of GDP and public debt at 126.8% of GDP making it the biggest deficit (as a percentage of GDP) amongst the EU member nations (although some have speculated that Ireland's in 2010 may prove to be worse).
The financial crisis – particularly the austerity
Austerity
In economics, austerity is a policy of deficit-cutting, lower spending, and a reduction in the amount of benefits and public services provided. Austerity policies are often used by governments to reduce their deficit spending while sometimes coupled with increases in taxes to pay back creditors to...
package put forth by the EU and the IMF – has been met with anger by the Greek public, leading to riots and social unrest.
Agriculture and fishery
In 2010, Greece was the European UnionEuropean Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
's largest producer of cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
(183.8 thousand tons) and ranked second in the production of rice
Rice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
(229.5 thousand tons) and olive
Olive
The olive , Olea europaea), is a species of a small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean Basin as well as northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea.Its fruit, also called the olive, is of major agricultural importance in the...
s (147.5 thousand tons), third in the production of fig
FIG
FIG may refer to:*Common fig, a large, deciduous shrub native to southwest Asia and the eastern Mediterranean region.*Ficus, a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs in the family Moraceae.-Acronym:* Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique...
s (11 thousand tons), tomato
Tomato
The word "tomato" may refer to the plant or the edible, typically red, fruit which it bears. Originating in South America, the tomato was spread around the world following the Spanish colonization of the Americas, and its many varieties are now widely grown, often in greenhouses in cooler...
es (1.4 million tons) and water melons (578.4 thousand tons) and fourth in the production of tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
(22 thousand tons). Agriculture contributes 3.3% of the country's GDP and employs 12% of the country's labor force.
Greece is a major beneficiary of the Common Agricultural Policy
Common Agricultural Policy
The Common Agricultural Policy is a system of European Union agricultural subsidies and programmes. It represents 48% of the EU's budget, €49.8 billion in 2006 ....
of the European Union. As a result of the country's entry to the European Community, much of its agricultural infrastructure has been upgraded and agricultural output increased. Between 2000 and 2007 organic farming
Organic farming
Organic farming is the form of agriculture that relies on techniques such as crop rotation, green manure, compost and biological pest control to maintain soil productivity and control pests on a farm...
in Greece increased by 885%, the highest change percentage in the EU.
In 2007, Greece accounted for 19% of the EU's fishing haul in the Mediterranean sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
, ranked third with 85,493 tons, and ranked first in the number of fishing vessels in the Mediterranean between European Union members. Additionally, the country ranked 11th in the EU in total quantity of fish caught, with 87,461 tons.
Maritime industry
Aristotle Onassis
Aristotle Sokratis Onassis , commonly called Ari or Aristo Onassis, was a prominent Greek shipping magnate.- Early life :Onassis was born in Karatass, a suburb of Smyrna to Socrates and Penelope Onassis...
and Niarchos
Stavros Niarchos
Stavros Spyros Niarchos was a Greek shipping tycoon, sometimes known as "The Golden Greek." In 1952, Stavros Niarchos built the first supertankers capable of transporting large quantities of oil, and subsequently earned millions of dollars as global demand for his ships increased.- Early life :He...
. The basis of the modern Greek maritime industry was formed after World War II when Greek shipping businessmen were able to amass surplus ships sold to them by the United States Government through the Ship Sales Act of the 1940s.
Currently Greece has the largest merchant navy
Merchant Navy
The Merchant Navy is the maritime register of the United Kingdom, and describes the seagoing commercial interests of UK-registered ships and their crews. Merchant Navy vessels fly the Red Ensign and are regulated by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency...
in the world as a percentage of the world's total dwt
DWT
DWT may stand for:* Driving While Texting, Is the act of composing, sending, or reading text messages, email, or making other similar use of the internet on a mobile device, while operating a motor vehicle, such as an automobile, truck or train....
, at 15.96% according to a United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development was established in 1964 as a permanent intergovernmental body. It is the principal organ of the United Nations General Assembly dealing with trade, investment, and development issues....
2010 report. Although a drop from the capacity of 18.2% of the world's total that the country's merchant fleet controlled in 2006, the Greek Merchant Navy is still the largest, but followed closely by that of Japan, at 15.73%. The Greek merchant navy's total dwt
DWT
DWT may stand for:* Driving While Texting, Is the act of composing, sending, or reading text messages, email, or making other similar use of the internet on a mobile device, while operating a motor vehicle, such as an automobile, truck or train....
is 186 million. Japan is second with 183 million, but China, which is ranked third, stands at 104 million. This comes to show that, although the Japanese merchant navy appears to be challenging the supremacy of the Greek one in terms of dwt, the Greek merchant navy's total dwt is not comparable to any other nation other than Japan. Additionally, Greece represents 41.49% of all of the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
's dwt. However, today's fleet roster is smaller than an all-time high of 5,000 ships in the late 1970s.
Greece is also ranked in the top 5 country merchant fleets by number of ships. In the same 2010 United Nations report, the Greek merchant navy came fourth with 3,150 ships, after Japan, China and Germany. There is a significant gap between Greece and Russia, which came fifth with 1,987 ships. A European Community Shipowners' Association report for 2010-2011 reveals that the Greek flag
Flag of Greece
The flag of Greece , officially recognized by Greece as one of its national symbols, is based on nine equal horizontal stripes of blue alternating with white...
is the fifth-most-used internationally for shipping, while it ranks first in the EU
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
.
In terms of ship categories, Greece controls 22.5% of the world's tankers and 16.8% of the world's bulk carriers (in dwt). An additional equivalent of 20.05% of the world's tanker dwt is on order, with another 12.1% of bulk carriers also on order. Today, shipping is one of the country's most important industries. It accounts for 6% of GDP, employs about 160,000 people (4% of the workforce), and represents 1/3 of the country's trade deficit. Earnings from shipping amounted to €15.4 billion in 2010, while between 2000 and 2010 Greek shipping contributed a total of €140 billion (half of the country's public debt in 2009 and 3.5 times the receipts from the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
in the period 2000-2013). The same ECSA report showed that there are approximately 750 Greek shipping companies in operation.
Telecommunications
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
communications in Greece were a state monopoly by the Hellenic Telecommunications Organization
OTE
Hellenic Telecommunications Organization S.A. , usually known by its Greek initials OTE, is the dominant telecommunications provider in Greece. Formerly a state-owned monopoly, OTE was part-privatized in 1998 and is now listed on the Athens and New York Stock Exchanges...
, better known by its acronym, OTE. Despite the liberalization of telephone communications in the country in the 1980s, OTE still dominates the Greek market in its field and has emerged as one of the largest telecommunications companies in South-eastern Europe. Since 2011, the majority share holder at OTE is Deutsche Telekom
Deutsche Telekom
Deutsche Telekom AG is a telecommunications company headquartered in Bonn, Germany. It is the largest telecommunications company in Europe....
, with 40%, while the Greek state has 10% of the company's shares. OTE owns a total of 13 subsidiaries in four countries across the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
, including Greece's top mobile telecommunications provider, Cosmote
Cosmote
COSMOTE is the largest mobile network operator in Greece, with 7.9 million subscribers. The company is headquartered in Athens and it is a fully owned subsidiary of the Hellenic Telecommunications Organization , the incumbent telecommunications provider in Greece...
.
Other mobile telecommunications companies active in Greece are Wind Hellas and Vodafone Greece
Vodafone Greece
Vodafone Greece is the Greek subsidiary of Vodafone. Its headquarters are in Halandri - one of the northern suburbs of Athens.Vodafone Greece was established in Greece in 1992 – under the trade name Panafon – with the participation of Vodafone Group Plc., France Telecom, Intracom and Data Bank, and...
. The total number of active cellular phone accounts in the country in 2009 based on statistics from the country's mobline phone providers was over 20 million, a penetration of 180%. Additionally, there are 5.93 million active landlines in the country.
Greece ranks very low in the European Union in terms of individual internet use. Out of the organization's 27 members, Greece ranked 26th, tied with Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, with just 47%. This is well below the EU average of 69%, and even more so when compared to other nations within the Union (Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, 91%). Respectively, Greece ranks very high (second in the European Union) in number of people who have never used the internet, at 52%. Greece's total internet users for 2009 numbered 4.791 million.
Tourism
Tourism in the modern sense has only started to flourish in Greece in the years post-1950, although in ancient times, following the annexation of Greece by the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
, a great deal of wealthy Romans visited the country's centers of learning to further educate themselves. Since the 1960s and 1970s, the tourism sector saw a boost, which was further renewed when Greece hosted the 2004 Summer Olympics
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...
.
Greece attracts more than 16 million tourists each year, thus contributing between 18.2% to the nation's GDP in 2008 according to an OECD report. The same survey showed that the average tourist expenditure while in Greece was $1,073, ranking Greece 10th in the world. The number of jobs directly or indirectly related to the tourism sector were 840,000 in 2008 and represented 19% of the country's total labor force. In 2009, Greece welcomed over 19.3 million tourists, a major increase from the 17.7 million tourists the country welcomed in 2008.
The ministry responsible for tourism is the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, while Greece also owns the Greek National Tourism Organization which aims in promoting tourism in Greece.
In recent years a number of well-known tourism-related organizations have placed Greek destinations in the top of their lists. In 2009 Lonely Planet
Lonely Planet
Lonely Planet is the largest travel guide book and digital media publisher in the world. The company is owned by BBC Worldwide, which bought a 75% share from the founders Maureen and Tony Wheeler in 2007 and the final 25% in February 2011...
ranked Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
, the country's second-largest city, the world's fifth best "Ultimate Party Town", alongside cities such as Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
and Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
, while in 2011 the island of Santorini
Santorini
Santorini , officially Thira , is an island located in the southern Aegean Sea, about southeast from Greece's mainland. It is the largest island of a small, circular archipelago which bears the same name and is the remnant of a volcanic caldera...
was voted as the best island in the world by Travel + Leisure
Travel + Leisure
Travel + Leisure is a travel magazine based in New York City, New York. Published 12 times a year, it has 4.8 million readers, according to its corporate media kit. It is put out by American Express Publishing Corporation, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of American Express Company led by...
. The neighbouring island of Mykonos
Mykonos
Mykonos is a Greek island, part of the Cyclades, lying between Tinos, Syros, Paros and Naxos. The island spans an area of and rises to an elevation of at its highest point. There are 9,320 inhabitants most of whom live in the largest town, Mykonos, which lies on the west coast. The town is also...
was ranked as the 5th best island in Europe.
Transport
As of 2010, Greece has a total of 81 airports, of which 67 are paved and six have runways longer than 3,047 meters. Of these airports, two are classified as "international" by the Hellenic Civil Aviation AuthorityHellenic Civil Aviation Authority
The Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority , abbreviated HCAA , is a department of the Greek Government under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications...
, but 15 offer international services. Additionally Greece has 9 heliports. Greece does not have a flag carrier
Flag carrier
A flag carrier is a transportation company, such as an airline or shipping company, that, being locally registered in a given country, enjoys preferential rights or privileges, accorded by the government, for international operations. It may be a state-run, state-owned or private but...
, but the country's airline industry is dominated by Olympic Air
Olympic Air
Olympic Air is the largest Greek airline by destinations served, formed from the privatisation of the former national carrier Olympic Airlines. Olympic Air commenced limited operations on 29 September 2009, after Olympic Airlines ceased all operations, with the official full-scale opening of the...
, the largest airline by number of destinations served, and Aegean Airlines
Aegean Airlines
Aegean Airlines S.A. is the largest Greek airline by total number of passengers carried. A Star Alliance member since June 2010, it operates scheduled and charter services from Athens and Thessaloniki to other major Greek destinations as well as to a number of European destinations...
, the largest airline by number of passengers carried. Between 1975 and 2009 Olympic Airlines
Olympic Airlines
Olympic Airlines was the flag carrier airline of Greece, with its head office in Athens. It operated services to 37 domestic destinations and to 32 destinations world-wide. Its main base was at Athens International Airport, with hubs at Thessaloniki International Airport, "Macedonia" and Rhodes...
was the country's flag carrier, but financial problems lead to its privatization in 2009. Both Olympic Air and Aegean have won awards for their services; in 2009 and 2011 Aegean Airlines was awarded the "Best regional airline in Europe" award by Skytrax
Skytrax
Skytrax is a United Kingdom-based consultancy, the public face of Inflight Research Services, which has the largest airline and airport review and ranking site. It conducts research for commercial airlines...
, and also has two gold and one silver awards by the ERA, while Olympic Air holds one silver ERA award for "Airline of the Year" as well as a "Condé Nast Traveller
Condé Nast Traveller
Condé Nast Traveller is published by Condé Nast Publications Ltd, from Vogue House in Hanover Square, Mayfair, London. It is a luxury travel magazine aimed at the upmarket, independent traveller....
2011 Readers Choice Awards: Top Domestic Airline" award.
The Greek road network is made up of 116,711 km of roads, of which 948 km are highways, ranking 37th worldwide. Since the entry of Greece to the European Community (now the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
), a number of important projects (such as the Egnatia Odos
Egnatia Odos
Egnatia Odos may refer to:* The Via Egnatia, an ancient Roman road in the southern Balkans* Egnatia Odos , Greek National Road 2, partly following the same route as the Via Egnatia*Egnatia Street, Thessaloniki, a street in Thessaloniki...
and the Attiki Odos
Attiki Odos
Attiki Odos is a privately owned toll motorway in Greece. The Proastiakos high-speed suburban rail is set almost entirely in the median of the motorway, along its main section. The motorway's numbers are 6 for the main section, 64 for the Hymettus Beltway and 65 for the Aigaleo Beltway...
) have been co-funded by the organization, helping to upgrade the country's road network. In 2007, Greece ranked 8th in the European Union in goods transported by road, at almost 500 million tons.
Greece's rail network
Railways of Greece
thumb|right|Map of the current Greek railway network.The railways of Greece have a complex history which begin in 1869, with the completion of the then Athens & Piraeus Railway, with parts of it also becoming the second-oldest underground metro system in the world.Greece is a member of the...
is estimated to be at 2,548 km. Rail transport in Greece is operated by TrainOSE
TrainOSE
TrainOSE S.A. is a railway company in Greece which currently operates all passenger and freight trains on OSE lines. The company, formerly a subsidiary of the Hellenic Railways Organisation , has been from 2008 an independent state-owned company...
, a subsidiary of the Hellenic Railways Organization (OSE). Most of the country's network is standard gauge
Standard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
(1,565 km), while the country also has 983 km of narrow gauge
Narrow gauge
A narrow gauge railway is a railway that has a track gauge narrower than the of standard gauge railways. Most existing narrow gauge railways have gauges of between and .- Overview :...
. A total of 764 km or rail are electrified. Greece has rail connections with Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, the Republic of Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
and Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. A total of two suburban railway systems (Proastiakos
Proastiakos
Proastiakós , is the name used for the suburban services of TrainOSE, servicing Greece's three largest cities: Athens, Thessaloniki and Patras; providing them with modern commuter rail links, towards their suburbs and also towards other cities and towns located around them.The service, operated by...
) are in operation (in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
and Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
), while one metro
Metro
Metro is an abbreviation of metropolitan, and is the name of many products and services relating to urban areas, especially public transport systems.-Rapid transit systems:...
system is operational in Athens
Athens Metro
The Athens Metro is an underground rapid transit system serving Athens, the capital city of Greece. It was constructed and owned by Attiko Metro S.A. and operated until 2011 by Attiko Metro Etaireia Leitourgias S.A....
with another under construction
Thessaloniki Metro
The Thessaloniki Metropolitan Railway , or Thessaloniki Metro , is an underground rapid transit system under construction in Thessaloniki, Greece.-The project:...
.
According to Eurostat
Eurostat
Eurostat is a Directorate-General of the European Commission located in Luxembourg. Its main responsibilities are to provide the European Union with statistical information at European level and to promote the integration of statistical methods across the Member States of the European Union,...
, Greece's largest port by tons of goods transported in 2010 is the port of Aghioi Theodoroi, with 17.38 million tons. The Port of Thessaloniki
Port of Thessaloniki
thumb|The Customs House, now passenger terminal, in the early 1900s.The Port of Thessaloniki is one of the largest Greek seaports and one of the largest ports in the Aegean Sea basin, with a total annual traffic capacity of 16 million tonnes...
comes second with 15.8 million tons, followed by the Port of Piraeus
Port of Piraeus
The Port of Piraeus, as the largest Greek seaport, is one of the largest seaports in the Mediterranean Sea basin and one of the top ten container ports in Europe. The port is also a major employer in the area, with more than 1,500 employees who provide services to more than 24,000 ships every year...
, with 13.2 million tons, and the port of Eleusis, with 12.37 million tons. The total number of goods transported through Greece in 2010 amounted to 124.38 million tons, a considerable drop from the 164.3 million tons transported through the country in 2007. In 2010 Piraeus handled 513,319 TEU
Twenty-foot equivalent unit
The twenty-foot equivalent unit is an inexact unit of cargo capacity often used to describe the capacity of container ships and container terminals...
s, followed by Thessaloniki, which handled 273,282 TEUs. In the same year, 83.9 million people passed through Greece's ports, 12.7 million through the port of Paloukia in Salamis
Salamis
Salamis may refer to* Salamis Island in the Saronic Gulf of the Aegean Sea, near Athens, Greece* Battle of Salamis, fought at Salamis Island in 480 B.C.* Salamis , a genus of butterfly in the family Nymphalidae...
, another 12.7 through the port of Perama
Perama
Perama is a port city and a suburb of Piraeus that lies on the southwest edge of the Aegaleo mountains. It creates the western terminus of the Port of Piraeus and there is also a port that provides ferry services to Salamis. The town has only one main road connecting Lambrakis and Ralli Avenues,...
, 9.5 million through Piraeus
Piraeus
Piraeus is a city in the region of Attica, Greece. Piraeus is located within the Athens Urban Area, 12 km southwest from its city center , and lies along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf....
and 2.7 million through Igoumenitsa
Igoumenitsa
Igoumenitsa , is a coastal city in northwestern Greece. It is the capital of the regional unit Thesprotia. Its original ancient name used to be Titani....
.
Energy
Energy production in Greece is dominated by the Public Power Corporation (known mostly by its acronym ΔΕΗ, or in English DEI). In 2009 DEI supplied for 85.6% of all energy demand in Greece, while the number fell to 77.3% in 2010. Almost half (48%) of DEI's power output is generated using ligniteLignite
Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, or Rosebud coal by Northern Pacific Railroad,is a soft brown fuel with characteristics that put it somewhere between coal and peat...
, a drop from the 51.6% in 2009. Another 12% comes from Hydroelectric power plants and another 20% from natural gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
. Between 2009 and 2010, independent companies' energy production increased by 168%, from 2,709 Gigawatt hour in 2009 to 4,232 GWh in 2010.
In 2008 renewable energy accounted for 8% of the country's total energy consumption, a rise from the 7.2% it accounted for in 2006, but still below the EU average of 10% in 2008. 10% of the country's renewable energy comes from solar power
Solar power
Solar energy, radiant light and heat from the sun, has been harnessed by humans since ancient times using a range of ever-evolving technologies. Solar radiation, along with secondary solar-powered resources such as wind and wave power, hydroelectricity and biomass, account for most of the available...
, while most comes from biomass
Biomass
Biomass, as a renewable energy source, is biological material from living, or recently living organisms. As an energy source, biomass can either be used directly, or converted into other energy products such as biofuel....
and waste recycling. In line with the European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
's Directive on Renewable Energy, Greece aims to get 18% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. Greece currently does not have any nuclear power plant
Nuclear power plant
A nuclear power plant is a thermal power station in which the heat source is one or more nuclear reactors. As in a conventional thermal power station the heat is used to generate steam which drives a steam turbine connected to a generator which produces electricity.Nuclear power plants are usually...
s in operation, however in 2009 the Academy of Athens
Academy of Athens
Academy of Athens may refer to:* Platonic Academy* Academy of Athens...
suggested that research in the possibility of Greek nuclear power plants begin.
Greece has 10 million barrel
Barrel (unit)
A barrel is one of several units of volume, with dry barrels, fluid barrels , oil barrel, etc...
s of proved oil reserves
Oil reserves
The total estimated amount of oil in an oil reservoir, including both producible and non-producible oil, is called oil in place. However, because of reservoir characteristics and limitations in petroleum extraction technologies, only a fraction of this oil can be brought to the surface, and it is...
as of 1 January 2011. Hellenic Petroleum
Hellenic Petroleum
Hellenic Petroleum S.A. is the largest oil refining company in Greece and with its roots dating to 1958 with the establishment of the first oil refinery in Greece ....
is the country's largest oil company, followed by Motor Oil Hellas. Greece's oil production stands at 7,946 barrels per day (bbl/d), ranked 90th, while it exports 181,600 bbl/d (57th) and imports 496,600 bbl/d (25th). In 2011 the Greek government approved the start of oil exploration and drilling in three locations within Greece, with an estimated output of 250 to 300 million barrels over the next 15 to 20 years. The estimated output in Euro
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
s of the three deposits is €25 billion over a 15-year period, of which €13–€14 billion will enter state coffers. Greece's dispute with Turkey over the Aegean
Aegean dispute
The Aegean dispute is a set of interrelated controversial issues between Greece and Turkey over sovereignty and related rights in the area of the Aegean Sea. This set of conflicts has had a large effect on Greek-Turkish relations since the 1970s. It has twice led to crises coming close to the...
poses substantial obstacles to oil exploration in the Aegean Sea
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
.
A number of oil and gas pipelines are currently under construction or under planning in the country. The Burgas
Burgas
-History:During the rule of the Ancient Romans, near Burgas, Debeltum was established as a military colony for veterans by Vespasian. In the Middle Ages, a small fortress called Pyrgos was erected where Burgas is today and was most probably used as a watchtower...
–Alexandroupoli
Alexandroupoli
Alexandroupoli , is a city of Greece and the capital of the Evros peripheral unit in Thrace. Named after King Alexander, it is an important port and commercial center of northeastern Greece.-Name:...
pipeline, which will transport oil from Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
to Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, Greece and then Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, is an €800 million investment of which 23.5% comes from Greek companies and another 1% by the Greek state. Other such projects include the Interconnector Turkey-Greece-Italy (ITGI) and South Stream gas pipelines.
Taxation and tax evasion
The Greek tax system is a tiered one, as Greece employs the system of progressive taxation. Greek law recognizes six categories of taxable income: immovable propertyImmovable property
Immovable property is an immovable object, an item of property that cannot be moved without destroying or altering it - property that is fixed to the Earth, such as land or a house. In the United States it is also commercially and legally known as real estate and in Britain as property...
, movable property (investment), income from agriculture, business, employment, and income from professional activities. Greece's personal income tax rate currently ranges from 0% for incomes below €12,000 and 45% for incomes over €100,000. Under the new 2010 tax reform, tax exemption
Tax exemption
Various tax systems grant a tax exemption to certain organizations, persons, income, property or other items taxable under the system. Tax exemption may also refer to a personal allowance or specific monetary exemption which may be claimed by an individual to reduce taxable income under some...
s have been abolished. Greece's corporate tax
Corporate tax
Many countries impose corporate tax or company tax on the income or capital of some types of legal entities. A similar tax may be imposed at state or lower levels. The taxes may also be referred to as income tax or capital tax. Entities treated as partnerships are generally not taxed at the...
has dropped from 40% in 2000 to 20% in 2010. For 2011 only, corporate tax will be at 24%. Value added tax
Value added tax
A value added tax or value-added tax is a form of consumption tax. From the perspective of the buyer, it is a tax on the purchase price. From that of the seller, it is a tax only on the "value added" to a product, material or service, from an accounting point of view, by this stage of its...
(VAT) has gone up in 2010 compared to 2009: 23% as opposed to 19%. The lowest VAT possible is 6.5% (previously 4.5%) for newspapers, periodicals and cultural event tickets, while a tax rate of 13% (from 9%) applies to certain service sector professions. Additionally, both employers and employees have to pay social contribution taxes, which apply at a rate of 16% for white collar
White collar
White collar could refer to:* White-collar worker, a salaried professional or an educated worker who performs semi-professional office, administrative, and sales-coordination tasks, as opposed to a blue-collar worker, whose job requires manual labor...
jobs and 19.5% for blue collar
Blue collar
Blue collar can refer to:*Blue-collar worker, a traditional designation of the working class*Blue-collar crime, the types of crimes typically associated with the working class*A census designation...
jobs, and are used for social insurance
Social insurance
Social insurance is any government-sponsored program with the following four characteristics:* the benefits, eligibility requirements and other aspects of the program are defined by statute;...
.
Greece suffers from very high levels of tax evasion. In the last quarter of 2005, tax evasion reached 49%, while in January 2006 it fell to 41.6%. The Tax Justice Network
Tax Justice Network
The Tax Justice Network is a coalition of researchers and activists with a shared concern about what they argue are the harmful impacts of tax avoidance, tax competition and tax havens, which "corrupt national tax regimes and onshore regulation, and distort markets by rewarding economic...
has said that there are over €20 billion in Swiss
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
bank accounts held by Greeks. The current Finance Minister of Greece, Evangelos Venizelos, was quoted as saying “Around 15,000 individuals and companies owe the taxman 37 billion euros”. Additionally, the TJN puts the number of Greek-owned off-shore companies
Offshore investment
Offshore investment is the keeping of money in a jurisdiction other than one's country of residence. Offshore jurisdictions are a commonly accepted solution to reducing tax burdens levied in most countries to both large and small scale investors alike...
to over 10,000.
Following similar actions by the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, the Greek government is in talks with Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
in order to tax bank accounts in Switzerland owned by Greek citizens. The Ministry of Finance has revealed that Greek Swiss bank account holders will either have to pay a tax or reveal information such as the identity of the bank account holder to the Greek internal revenue services. The Greek and Swiss governments are to reach a deal on the matter by the end of 2011.
The Ministry of Finance expects tax revenues for 2012 to be €52.7 billion (€23.6 billion in direct taxes and €29.1 billion in indirect taxes), an increase of 5.8% from 2011. In 2012 the government is expected to have considerably higher tax revenues than in 2011 on a number of sectors, primarily housing (an increase of 217.5% from 2011).
Wealth and standards of living
National and regional GDP
According to EurostatEurostat
Eurostat is a Directorate-General of the European Commission located in Luxembourg. Its main responsibilities are to provide the European Union with statistical information at European level and to promote the integration of statistical methods across the Member States of the European Union,...
, Greece's most economically important regions in 2008 were Attica (which contributed €103.334 billion to the economy) followed by Central Macedonia
Central Macedonia
Central Macedonia is one of the thirteen regions of Greece, consisting of the central part of the region of Macedonia. With a population of over 1.8 million, it is the second most populous in Greece after Attica.- Administration :...
(€35.458 billion), Thessaly
Thessaly
Thessaly is a traditional geographical region and an administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, and appears thus in Homer's Odyssey....
(€12.905 billion), Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
(€12.854 billion) and Central Greece
Central Greece
Continental Greece or Central Greece , colloquially known as Roúmeli , is a geographical region of Greece. Its territory is divided into the administrative regions of Central Greece, Attica, and part of West Greece...
(€12.530 billion). The least important were the North Aegean
North Aegean
The North Aegean is one of the thirteen regions of Greece. It comprises the islands of the north-eastern Aegean Sea, except for Samothrace, which belongs to the region of East Macedonia and Thrace, and Imbros and Tenedos which belong to Turkey....
(€3.579 billion) and the Ionian Islands (€4.646 billion).
In terms of GDP per capita, the South Aegean
South Aegean
The South Aegean is one of the thirteen regions of Greece. It consists of the Cyclades and Dodecanese island groups in the central and southeastern Aegean Sea.- Administration :...
ranks first (€28,300), followed by Attica (€28,200) and Central Greece (€25,100). East Macedonia and Thrace
East Macedonia and Thrace
East Macedonia and Thrace is one of the thirteen regions of Greece. It consists of the northeastern parts of the country, comprising the eastern part of the region of Macedonia along with the region of Thrace, and the islands of Thasos and Samothrace....
(€16,600) and West Greece
West Greece
West Greece is one of the thirteen regions of Greece. It comprises the western part of continental Greece and the northwestern part of the Peloponnese peninsula.- Administration :...
(€18,200) have the lowest values. Greece's average GDP per capita in 2008 was €23,100, below the EU average of €25,000.
| Rank | Region | Total GDP | Per capita |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Attica | €103.334 bn | €28,200 |
| 2 | Central Macedonia Central Macedonia Central Macedonia is one of the thirteen regions of Greece, consisting of the central part of the region of Macedonia. With a population of over 1.8 million, it is the second most populous in Greece after Attica.- Administration :... |
€34.458 bn | €20,300 |
| 3 | Thessaly Thessaly Thessaly is a traditional geographical region and an administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, and appears thus in Homer's Odyssey.... |
€12.905 bn | €19,500 |
| 4 | Crete Crete Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits... |
€12.854 bn | €23,500 |
| 5 | Central Greece Central Greece Continental Greece or Central Greece , colloquially known as Roúmeli , is a geographical region of Greece. Its territory is divided into the administrative regions of Central Greece, Attica, and part of West Greece... |
€12.530 bn | €25,100 |
| 6 | West Greece West Greece West Greece is one of the thirteen regions of Greece. It comprises the western part of continental Greece and the northwestern part of the Peloponnese peninsula.- Administration :... |
€12.122 bn | €18,200 |
| 7 | Peloponnese | €11.230 bn | €21,100 |
| 8 | East Macedonia and Thrace East Macedonia and Thrace East Macedonia and Thrace is one of the thirteen regions of Greece. It consists of the northeastern parts of the country, comprising the eastern part of the region of Macedonia along with the region of Thrace, and the islands of Thasos and Samothrace.... |
€9.054 bn | €16,600 |
| 9 | South Aegean South Aegean The South Aegean is one of the thirteen regions of Greece. It consists of the Cyclades and Dodecanese island groups in the central and southeastern Aegean Sea.- Administration :... |
€7.816 bn | €28,300 |
| 10 | Epirus Epirus (periphery) Epirus , formally the Epirus Region , is a geographical and administrative region in northwestern Greece. It borders the regions of West Macedonia and Thessaly to the east, West Greece to the south, the Ionian Sea and the Ionian Islands to the west and the country of Albania to the north. The... |
€5.827 bn | €18,400 |
| 11 | West Macedonia West Macedonia West Macedonia is one of the thirteen regions of Greece, consisting of the western part of Greek Macedonia. It is divided into the regional units of Florina, Grevena, Kastoria, and Kozani.-Geography:... |
€5.564 bn | €21,100 |
| 12 | Ionian Islands | €4.464 bn | €22,500 |
| 13 | North Aegean North Aegean The North Aegean is one of the thirteen regions of Greece. It comprises the islands of the north-eastern Aegean Sea, except for Samothrace, which belongs to the region of East Macedonia and Thrace, and Imbros and Tenedos which belong to Turkey.... |
€3.579 bn | €19,900 |
| 14 | Mount Athos Mount Athos Mount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the... |
NA | NA |
| – | Greece Greece Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe.... |
€232.920 bn | €23,100 |
| – | EU European Union The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958... |
€12,484.420 bn | €25,000 |
Welfare state
Greece is a welfare stateWelfare state
A welfare state is a "concept of government in which the state plays a key role in the protection and promotion of the economic and social well-being of its citizens. It is based on the principles of equality of opportunity, equitable distribution of wealth, and public responsibility for those...
which provides a number of social services such as universal health care
Universal health care
Universal health care is a term referring to organized health care systems built around the principle of universal coverage for all members of society, combining mechanisms for health financing and service provision.-History:...
and pension
Pension
In general, a pension is an arrangement to provide people with an income when they are no longer earning a regular income from employment. Pensions should not be confused with severance pay; the former is paid in regular installments, while the latter is paid in one lump sum.The terms retirement...
s. In the 2012 budget, expenses for the welfare state (excluding education) stand at an estimated €22.487 billion (€6.577 billion for pensions and €15.910 billion for social security and health care expenses), or 31.9% of the all state expenses.
Currency
Between 1832 and 2002 the currency of Greece was the Drachma. Upon signing the Maastricht TreatyMaastricht Treaty
The Maastricht Treaty was signed on 7 February 1992 by the members of the European Community in Maastricht, Netherlands. On 9–10 December 1991, the same city hosted the European Council which drafted the treaty...
, Greece vowed to join the Eurozone
Eurozone
The eurozone , officially called the euro area, is an economic and monetary union of seventeen European Union member states that have adopted the euro as their common currency and sole legal tender...
, which occurred on 1 January 2002. At the time of the adoption of the Euro
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
the exchange rate was ₯340.75 to €1.
Prior to the adoption of the Euro, the majority of Greek people had a positive view of the new currency (64%). In February and June 2005 however this number fell considerably, to only 26% and 20% respectively. Since 2010 the number has risen again, and a survey in September 2011 showed that 63% of Greeks had a positive view of the Euro.
External links
- Nick Malkoutzis Greece- A Year in Crisis Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Juni 2011
- New study on the "Economic, Social and Territorial Situation of Greece" European Parliament – Committee on Regional Development's delegation to Greece, 13 – 15 July 2011