Greece’s current account deficit decreased in January-September, while Greek tourism outperformed, with tourist arrivals jumping 17.3%, leading travel receipts to 17.9 billion euros, according to the Bank of Greece (BoG).
More specifically, the current account deficit decreased by 4.6 billion euros to 7.3 billion euros. Exports fell by 6.2% at current prices (‑2.2% at constant prices), whereas imports declined by 10.8% at current prices (‑3.8% at constant prices). Non-oil exports of goods rose by 0.2%, while imports fell by 2.3% (‑4.4% and ‑4.0% at constant prices, respectively). An increase in the services surplus is attributed to an improvement, primarily, in the travel balance and, secondarily, in the other services balance, which was partly offset by a deterioration in the transport balance. Non-residents’ arrivals grew by 17.3% and the relevant receipts increased by 15.2% year-on-year. The primary income account deficit deteriorated year-on-year, due to an increase in net interest, dividend and profit payments, which was partly offset by a rise in net receipts from other primary income.
In September, the current account deficit slightly more than halved year-on-year and stood at 404.3 million.
Exports fell by 10.3% at current prices (‑10.1% at constant prices) and imports fell by 16.3% at current prices (‑7.5% at constant prices). More specifically, non-oil exports of goods declined by 10.1% at current prices (‑12.2% at constant prices), whereas non-oil imports of goods dropped by 3.7% at current prices (‑3.3% at constant prices). An increase in the surplus of the services balance is mainly due to an improvement in the travel balance and, to a lesser extent, the transport and other services balances. Non-residents’ arrivals rose by 12.7% and the relevant receipts by 14.6% year-on-year.
The primary income account recorded a deficit versus a surplus in the same month last year. The deficit of the secondary income account decreased compared with September 2022.
In the January-September period, the capital account surplus shrank at 2.0 billion, mainly due to lower net receipts in the other sectors of the economy excluding general government. The deficit of the combined current and capital account totaled 5.2 billion euros.
