Trade deficit shows big drop in year to April
Greek exports in the first four months of this year posted an 8 percent increase on an annual basis according to figures Eurostat released on Tuesday in Brissels.
The total value of Greek exports in the period from January to April amounted to 9.1 billion euros, from 8.4 billion euros in the same period in 2012, Eurostat said. Meanwhile, imports declined by 6 percent, from 16.7 billion to 15.7 billion euros. As a result the country’s trade deficit amounted to 6.6 billion euros, down from 8.3 billion in the first four months of 2012. Despite that improvement, though, Greece still has the third-largest trade deficit in the European Union behind the United Kingdom and France.
Eurostat also confirmed that deflation continued in Greece last month, with the consumer price index contracting by 0.3 percent in June from the same month last year. The average rate over the last 12 months was +0.2 percent, the lowest in the EU.