Wealth worth one year’s GDP has been lost since 2009
The wealth of Greeks shrank by 167 billion euros during the years of the financial crisis – i.e. almost one year’s gross domestic product – according to a survey by Credit Suisse included in the weekly bulletin of the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV).
The Swiss bank estimates the net wealth of Greeks – that is with their loans deducted – at 856 billion euros, against 1,023 billion euros in 2009, just before the country entered the bailout process.
The data show that the net wealth per adult Greek inhabitant amounted to 114,000 euros in 2009, while in the rest of Europe it came to 93,000 euros per adult inhabitant. According to SEV, what puts Greece in a different category to the rest of Europe is the excessive borrowing.
SEV stresses that what is not obvious in the data on the fortune of Greek people and is not sufficiently presented is the huge deficits of the local social security system that will continue to absorb considerable resources in the future, putting a lid on the country’s growth unless tackled sufficiently. In practice, the older generations have not just borrowed from the savings of fellow Europeans, but also from the future savings of their children.
