Hellenic Statistical Authority

Let us take a moment to ponder two things that have been presented to us in recent days. First of all, there was the video of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras announcing the government's intention to pay out the so-called social dividend "to citizens who need it most." He is seen in the street, with the camera zooming in on fellow Greeks who have very little purchasing power at all.

Greek households were worse off in 2016 than the previous year, as Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) data point to a reduction in their disposable incomes, consumption and savings.

The figures come on the back of a recent revision of gross domestic product data which confirmed that last year was a recessionary one.

Greek citizen’s disposable income fell below the catastrophic 2015 economic year, recording a 2.7 billion euro contraction, according to data released by the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT).
The numbers reflect the government’s “conscious choice” to over-tax the medium income households in Greece.

With the European Statistics Day the European statistical community "aims at raising awareness of European citizens to the importance and value of official statistics for our society", says Walter Radermacher, Director General of Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Greece was in recession last year, as revised data from the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) showed on Tuesday that the economy shrank 0.2 percent compared to 2015 against a previous estimate for zero growth.

Greece's economy contracted by 0.2 percent last year, the head of statistics service ELSTAT said on Tuesday, releasing its second estimate of full-year 2016 gross domestic product.

Greece is one of the three European Union states with the highest poverty rates, despite the very high expenditure for social protection, as more than one in three Greeks live in conditions of poverty or social exclusion, according to Eurostat.

A notable rise in Greece's trade deficit was recorded in August by the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) as there was a sharp increase in imports.

According to ELSTAT, Greece's trade deficit rose to 31.3 percent in August, totalling nearly 3.65 billion euros for the month, compared with to just under 3.2 billion in August, 2016. 

Greece's jobless rate dipped to 21 percent in July from an upwardly revised 21.3 percent the previous month, the country's national statistics service ELSTAT said on Thursday.

Seasonally adjusted data showed the number of registered unemployed was 1 million people. Among younger persons aged 15 to 24, the jobless rate eased to 42.8 from 43.2 percent a year ago.

Greece is sitting on a demographic time-bomb, as its population is aging at an alarming rate, according to data released by the Statistical Authority (ELSTAT). The figures show that there were 25,894 more deaths than births in 2016, a trend that persisted from 2015 when 29,368 more people had died than were born.