Browse a full set of economic indicators

Greece

Includes Greece real Gross Domestic Product growth rate, with latest forecasts and historical data, GDP per capita, GDP composition and breakdown by sector.

Browse additional economic indicators and data sets, selected by Global Finance editors, to learn more about Greece economic outlook, debt to GDP ratio, international trade performance and population trends. Rankings of Greece best banks and safest banks are also available.

Basic Information

Government Type: Parliamentary republic

Capital City: Athens

GDP & Economic Information

Macroeconomy & Sovereign Data

Central Bank Bank of Greece

Currency Euros (EUR)

International Reserves USD 11.93 billion (2020)
World Bank, last updated 12/16/2021
Gross Domestic Product – GDP USD 211.65 billion (2021 estimate)
IMF – World Economic Outlook, October 2021
GDP (Purchasing Power Parity) USD 339.67 billion (2021 estimate)
IMF – World Economic Outlook, October 2021

GDP Data

Real GDP growth 2017 1.3%
2018 1.6%
2019 1.9%
2020* -8.2%
2021* 6.5%

*Estimate
GDP per capita – current prices USD 19,827.16 (2021 estimate)
IMF – World Economic Outlook, October 2021
GDP per capita – PPP USD 31,820.57 (2021 estimate)
IMF – World Economic Outlook, October 2021
GDP (PPP) – share of world total 0.24% (2021 estimate)
GDP – composition by sector agriculture: 4.1%
industry: 13.9%
services: 69.8%
(2020 estimate)
Gross domestic expenditure on R&D; (% of GDP) 1.3% (2019)

Inflation 2017 1.1%
2018 0.8%
2019 0.5%
2020* -1.3%
2021* -0.1%

*Estimate

Inflation & Debt

Inflation 2017 1.1%
2018 0.8%
2019 0.5%
2020* -1.3%
2021* -0.1%

*Estimate
Government Bond Ratings Standard & Poor’s: BB

Moody’s: Ba3

Standard & Poor’s / Moody’s (January 2022)
Unemployment rate 2017 21.5%
2018 19.3%
2019 17.3%
2020* 16.4%
2021* 15.8%

*Estimate
Household saving rates -4.8% (2020)
OECD, retrieved January 2022
Public debt (General government gross debt as a % of GDP) 2017 182.4%
2018 189.9%
2019 184.9%
2020* 211.2%
2021* 206.7%

*Estimate
Public deficit (General government net lending/borrowing as a % of GDP) 2017 4.1%
2019 4.2%
2019 3.2%
2020* -7.5%
2021* -7.3%

*Estimate

Market value of publicly traded shares USD 51.0 billion (2020)
Largest Companies National Bank of Greece, Piraeus Bank, Alpha Bank, Eurobank Ergasias, Bank of Greece

Import/Export

Exports as percent of GDP (Exports of goods and services) 36.1% (2018)
Shares in world total merchandising export 0.20% (2018)
Shares in world total commercial services export 0.75% (2018)
Total exports USD 81.4 billion (2018 estimate)
Export commodities Food and beverages, manufactured goods, petroleum products, chemicals, textiles
Total imports USD 85.7 billion (2018 estimate)
Import commodities Machinery, transport equipment, fuels, chemicals
Exports – major partners Italy 10.6%, Germany 7.1%, Turkey 6.8%, Cyprus 6.5%, Bulgaria 4.9%, Lebanon 4.3% (2017)
Imports – major partners Germany 10.4%, Italy 8.2%, Russia 6.8%, Iraq 6.3%, South Korea 6.1%, China 5.4%, Netherlands 5.3%, France 4.3% (2017)

Competitiveness & Trade

Current account balance USD -7.7 billion (2018 estimate)
Current account balance by percentage of GDP -3.5 % (2018 estimate)
FDI inflows 2016 USD 2,763 million
2019 USD 3,611 million
2020 USD 4,257 million
FDI Outflows 2018 USD -1,666 million
2019 USD 580 million
2020 USD 848 million
Value of cross-border M&A, by country of purchaser 2015 USD -140 million
2016 USD -3,462 million
2017 USD -915 million
2018 USD 629 million
Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2014 N/A
Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2015 N/A
Best countries for doing business
Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business. A high ease of doing business ranking means the regulatory environment is more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm.

Overall ranking:

79 out of 190 countries

​Subcategories:
Starting a Business: 11 out of 190 countries
Dealing with Construction Permits: 86 out of 190 countries
Getting Electricity: 40 out of 190 countries
Registering Property: 156 out of 190 countries
Getting Credit: 119 out of 190 countries
Protecting Minority Investors: 37 out of 190 countries
Paying Taxes: 72 out of 190 countries
Trading across Borders: 34 out of 190 countries
Enforcing Contracts: 146 out of 190 countries
Resolving Insolvency: 72 out of 190 countries
Global competitiveness ranking
59 out of 141 countries

(2019)

Index of Economic Freedom Ranking: 106 / Score: 57.7 (Mostly unfree)

(100=totally free 0=totally repressed)

Population & Geographic Data

Time Zone UTC+2

Total Area 131,957 sq km

Total Population 1990 10.12 Million
2000 10.78 Million
2010 11.12 Million
2015 10.86 Million
2020* 10.69 Million

*Estimate
Urban population as % of total population 1960 55.9%
1980 69.3%
2000 72.7%
2018 79.1%
Population median age 44.9 years

Population growth rate -0.07% (2018 estimate)

Life expectancy 80.8 years (2018 estimate)



CIA World Factbook / Life expectancy
% of population living on less than $3.10 a day 2.7% (last available estimate, 2015)

Inequality of wealth distribution (Gini index) 36 (last available estimate, 2015)

(0=perfect equality, 100=absolute inequality)
Freedom House rating
Free
Political Rights: 1
Civil Liberties: 2 (2019)

(1 represents the most free, 7 the least free rating)
Total telephone subscribers as % of population
Fixed: 47% Mobile: 115.7% (2018)
(fixed-telephone subscribers and mobile-cellular subscribers)
Internet users as % of total population 72.95 % (2018)

Language & Religon

Languages Greek (official) 99%, other (includes English and French) 1%

Literacy
Total population: 97.7%
Male: 98.5%
Female: 96.9%
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write (2015 est.)
Religions Greek Orthodox (official) 81-90%, Muslim 2%, other 3%, none 4-15%, unspecified 1% (2015 est.)

World Rankings

Population 10.69 M
Mercer Cost of living index Athens: 128th (2019)
C02 Emissions per capita 6.18 metric tons per capita (2014)

Global Finance Rankings & Awards: Greece

Global Finance Magazine holds several conferences and awards ceremonies throughout the year to recognize the winning financial institutions and companies in a host of categories including World’s Best Trade Finance Banks, World's Biggest Banks, World's Safest Banks, World's Best Developed & Emerging Markets Banks, World's Best Internet Banks, and World’s Best Investment Banks.


Data Sources:

IMF World Economic Outlook

UN World Population Prospects

World Inequality Report

S&P Global Ratings

Moody’s

Fitch Ratings

IMF Direction of Trade Statistics (DOTS)

UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

CIA The World Factbook

World Bank’s World Integrated Trade Solution

Forbes Global 2000

arrow-chevron-right-redarrow-chevron-rightbutton-arrow-left-greybutton-arrow-left-red-400button-arrow-left-red-500button-arrow-left-red-600button-arrow-left-whitebutton-arrow-right-greybutton-arrow-right-red-400button-arrow-right-red-500button-arrow-right-red-600button-arrow-right-whitecaret-downcaret-rightclosecloseemailfacebook-square-holdfacebookhamburger-newhamburgerinstagramlinkedin-square-1linkedinpauseplaysearch-outlinesearchsubscribe-digitalsubscribe-printtwitter-square-holdtwitteryoutube