Greece today is a developed industrial state with stable export and import indicators. Recently, however, Athens has been threatened by a financial crisis. As a result of the huge external debt , a default formed in the country. The economy is starting to crack apart. But is everything so bad? This will help to understand the review of Greece's GDP indicators by years.
Economic development
The gross product in the country as early as the mid-1990s was about $ 120 billion. So, per capita, its volume sometimes reached $ 11.5 thousand. At that time, Greece’s GDP grew quite rapidly. The rate of increase varied within 1.5%. On the other hand, back in the 1970s, similar indicators reached 5%.
In 1960, the country's economy flourished due to the high rate of industrial production. Its volume immediately increased by 11%, while agricultural goods - only 3.5%. Nevertheless, for a long time, it was the agricultural sector that played a major role in replenishing the state treasury. Its share in Greek GDP was up to 31%. In turn, industry accounted for approximately 18% of the total gross product. The remaining percentage remained in the service sector, including tourism.
By the end of the 1990s, the unemployment rate naturally increased. The hardest part was for the female half of the population, which was occupied only in the tobacco and textile sectors, partly in the service sector. The fact is that since 1996, the Greek authorities decided to carry out a series of reforms to support the agricultural and industrial sectors.
With the beginning of the 21st century, the country's economy began to depend on huge investment and debt injections of the USA and the Eurozone. This contributed to the formation of a monopoly, reduced support for agriculture and the development of inflation. Gradually, Greece adapted to Western European integration, but not painlessly for ordinary citizens.
Economic indicators
Currently, it is Greece that is considered one of the most developed industrial states in Western Europe. GDP per capita here varies within 26 thousand dollars. This allows Athens to stay among the first 50 countries of the world with the best similar rates.
It should be noted that the average development of production is complemented by the public sector. In this way, the authorities stabilize the gross product. The country has developed trade, agricultural industry, banking system, stock exchanges. Most citizens are employed in industries such as textiles, petrochemicals, food, tourism, mining and metallurgy. Mechanical engineering and electrical production are developing rapidly. But the transport industry leaves much to be desired, especially with regard to rail transportation.
Greece's GDP over the years can be represented as an extremely unstable and vulnerable
economic indicator. Back in the early 2000s, its volume grew enviably to 5.2%. Negative leaps were insignificant, stability was noted. Nevertheless, since 2008, the European economy has begun to forget what real Greece is. The decline in GDP over the next few years averaged 6%. A negative maximum was recorded in 2011 - 7.1%.
As of 2014, GDP is just over $ 238 billion. Thus, Greece takes only 44th place in the World Bank ranking, even behind Finland and Pakistan. One of the main problems of today's economy is the shadow sector, as well as the corruption of officials. The share of such "expenses" of the total budget is up to 20%.
Structure of the economy
The industrial sector is developed in the country by region disproportionately. The most successful are considered to be the food, textile and light industries. The employed population in this sector accounts for more than 21%. The metallurgical industry is bearing fruit annually. Following it, the automotive and petrochemical industries are located in terms of profitability.
Agriculture is gradually dying out due to a catastrophic shortage of fertile land and a small amount of rainfall. For example: in Greece, arable land is only 30%.
As for export, here Greece rescues oil products, cereals, citruses. By 2012, a sharp decline in demand for local goods was recorded. Export volumes immediately decreased by 22%. Until recently, Russia was considered the largest trading partner of Greece.
The number of visiting tourists is gradually falling.
Debt crisis
The dynamics of Greek GDP is very dependent on external factors. So, the state debt of the country for 2011 exceeded the budget by 40%. The fact is that a few years ago Athens borrowed about 80 billion euros. However, this amount could not bring the country's economy to the proper level. Soon, banks started talking about the approaching financial crisis.
As a result, the country's economy began to crack at the seams. The only solution was to get into even more debt. The government began to sell state property and look for large investors. However, no one wanted to connect their future with a financially unstable country. Now the amount of debt exceeds Athens' GDP by almost 2 times.
Regular Default
The year 2015 was marked for Greece by an even greater decline in the economy. Banks, factories, large enterprises and companies began to close, tens of thousands of people were left without work.
To solve the problem, new authorities were formed in the country. The prime minister’s main promise was a partial debt cancellation. At the same time, the Greek government was extremely aggressive and arrogant. Naturally, world banks did not agree with such a formulation of the question. Long negotiations did not succeed.
As a result, it was decided to leave the EU, but very soon this issue was closed. The European Union again lent Athens tens of billions of euros for financial reforms, and Greece gladly remained in the coalition. Today, authorities continue to struggle with a deep default.
Greek GDP today
By mid-2015, the country's economy has strengthened slightly. According to experts, Greece’s GDP grew by 1.5% by June. This exceeded even the most optimistic expectations by almost 1%.
In the third quarter of 2015, a slight increase of another 0.4% is also expected.
The goal of the new European support program for Greece is to increase the country's GDP in the near future. By 2017, it is planned to increase the gross product from 2.7 to 3.1%.