First-quarter growth at 2.1%
The growth rate of the first quarter of 2023 came to 2.1%, according to Wednesday’s data from the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT), with economists speaking of a slowdown, without however changing their forecasts for the year as a whole, which range from 2% to 3%.
After the growth rate of around 6% in 2022 (4.8% in the fourth quarter of 2022) the drop was expected since the comparison was with a higher base, but some analysts point out the fall was a bit more than expected. In April in the Stability Program the government predicted a 2.3% growth rate for the whole year, but its officials had recently indicated they expected a higher rate, closer to 3%.
In its Economic Outlook forecast on Wednesday, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said Greek GDP will grow by 2.2% this year while it will drop to 1.9% in 2024.
At +2.1%, Greece is well above the European Union and eurozone average, which was 1.3%, per Eurostat’s provisional data (the final figures are expected on Thursday). Higher rates were recorded in Spain (3.8%), Ireland (2.6%) and Portugal (2.5%).
On a quarterly basis, moreover, Greek GDP recorded a 0.1% decrease in Q1, for the first time since the second quarter of 2020.
