by Athanasios Adamopoulos

 

Greek GDP grew by 5.9% in 2022, recording the highest quarterly growth rate in the Eurozone, after a 5.2% growth rate in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared with the same period in 2021.

 

According to figures released by Hellenic Statistical Authority and Eurostat –the EU’s executive statistics agency- Greece recorded the highest GDP growth rate in the fourth quarter (1.4%), followed by Malta (1.2%) and Cyprus (1.1%), while on the other hand Poland (-2.4%), Estonia (-1.6%) and Finland (-0.6%) recorded the biggest growth declines.

 

The Greek statistics service said these were provisional and non-seasonally adjusted data in volume terms.

 

In volume terms the country's gross domestic product totaled 192.1 billion euros in 2022, from 181.3 billion in 2021. In the fourth quarter, the GDP grew by 1.4% from the third quarter of 2022. More specifically, final consumption spending grew 5.5% (households up 7.8% and general government down 1.6%), private investments (gross capital formation) jumped 21.7%, exports of goods and services rose 4.9% and imports of goods and services fell 10.2%. The 5.2% GDP growth rate in the fourth quarter, reflected a 2.4% increase in final consumption spending (household 4.2% and general government down 1.9%), a 14.8% rise in private investments, a 3.5% decline in exports and a 7.5% rise in imports. On a quarterly basis, the country's GDP grew by 1.4% in the fourth quarter form the third quarter of 2022, reflecting an 1.2% rise in final consumption spending (households up 1.8% and general government down 0.7%), an 8.5% increase in private investments, a 0.8% decline in exports and a 6.3% rise in imports.

 

Eurozone economy showed resilience in the fourth quarter of 2022, with its GDP remaining unchanged on a quarterly basis, despite big interest rate increases by the European Central Bank.

 

The seasonally-adjusted GDP was unchanged in the Eurozone but eased 0.1% in the EU in the fourth quarter from the third quarter of 2022. On an annual basis, the GDP grew by 1.8% in the Eurozone and by 1.7% in the EU.