Significant rise in exports and industrial output in November
Greek exports and industrial output posted a significant increase in November, the month before political uncertainty began to mount in the country, according to data released on Friday by the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT).
November was the second consecutive month of growth for Greek exports, assisted considerably by the decline of the euro against the dollar and other major foreign currencies. According to ELSTAT’s provisional data, exports amounted to 2.31 billion euros in November, against 2.17 billion in November 2013, posting a rise of 6.6 percent. When fuel products are excluded the rise amounts to just 0.9 percent.
In the first 11 months of the year exports added up to 24.88 billion euros, against 25.46 billion a year earlier, or a drop of 2.3 percent. Excluding oil products, the drop amounted to 1.5 percent.
Imports recorded an 0.8 percent decline in November from the same month in 2013, but when fuel products are excluded the drop grows to 3.3 percent.
“The rise in exports in October and November is a good omen for the next few months,” argued Christina Sakellaridi, the president of the Panhellenic Exporters Association. “It confirms that the real economy immediately responds to measures that favor economic growth, such as the strengthening of liquidity by the European Central Bank and the easing of the euro against the dollar as a means of bolstering the economy in Europe. This positive response illustrates that in Europe and in Greece economic growth is possible when measures that support entrepreneurship come in a period of fiscal and political stability,” added Sakellaridi.
Industrial output ended its eight-month southbound course in November when it posted 2.3 percent annual growth, after a 6.6 percent decline a year earlier, while manufacturing industries in particular recorded a remarkable 5.5 percent rebound in output.
Besides the growth in manufacturing, ELSTAT attributed the rebound in industrial activity to the 13.2 percent rise in output at mines.
The average rate of industrial output decline in the period from January to November 2014 came to 2.6 percent from the same period in 2013, which had posted an annual drop of 3.3 percent from 2012.
