Trade deficit shrinks on big drop in imports
Greece’s trade deficit shrank 29.5 percent year-on-year in August as a result of the considerable 16.3 percent decline in imports, Hellenic Statistical Authority figures revealed on Friday.
The total value of imports in August amounted to 3.28 billion euros, against 3.92 billion in August 2013. The trade deficit’s reduction would have been even greater had it not been for the new decline in exports by 5.7 percent year-on-year. Their total value came to 2.05 billion euros, against 2.18 billion a year earlier.
In fact last August was the worst in the last three years in terms of Greek exports, as exports had amounted to 2.21 billion euros in August 2012. The main cause for the decline is the considerable drop in exports both to European Union member states and to third countries.
As a result the trade balance saw its deficit come to 1.23 billion euros in August, against 1.74 billion a year earlier. In the first eight months of 2014 the value of imports added up to 31.25 billion euros, against 31.3 billion in the same period of 2013 – i.e. a marginal decline of 0.2 percent. At the same time exports totaled 17.71 billion euros, from 18.43 billion in the January-August 2013 period – i.e. a 3.9 percent fall.
