Second place in terms of growth in Eurozone Greece reached in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to the same period in 2021, according to data released on Wednesday Eurostat. However, the structure of GDP remains qualitatively unfavorable compared to the Eurozone, as consumption remains a key factor. The increase in investments is fixed on the positive side, and the deterioration of the external balance – on the negative side.

In particular, GDP in the eurozone in the fourth quarter of 2022 increased by 1.8%, and in the European Union – by 1.7% year on year. In Greece, it increased by 5.2%, recording the highest percentage after Ireland (13.1%). This is followed by Romania with 4.9% and Malta with 4.7%. Estonia showed the worst results with a fall of 4.4%.

Compared to the previous quarter, GDP in the euro area fell by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, while it remained stable in the EU as a whole. In this comparison on a quarterly basis, Greece ranked first with GDP growth of 1.4%, followed by Malta (+1.2%) and Cyprus (+1.1%). In contrast, Poland experienced the largest decline in GDP (-2.4%), followed by Estonia (-1.6%) and Finland (-0.6%).

On the positive side, increased investment and on the negative side, the deterioration of the external balance.

Overall, in 2022, GDP increased by 3.5% in both the euro area and the European Union, following increases of 5.3% and 5.1% respectively in 2021. In Greece, in 2022, ELSTAT announced that GDP growth was 5.9% after 8.4% in 2021. %.

According to Eurostat, in the fourth quarter, the contribution of household consumption to eurozone GDP growth (compared to the same quarter of the previous year) was positive, but only by +0.6 percentage points. Figures for Greece show that the contribution of household consumption to GDP growth was significantly higher, +2.9 percentage points. The contribution of government consumption was positive, +0.1 percentage point in the euro area, while it was negative, -0.3 percentage point, in Greece.

The contribution of investment, expressed in terms of gross fixed capital formation, was +0.1 percentage points in the euro area and +2 percentage points in Greece. However, according to financial analysts, the share of investment in GDP, although it increased from 11% to 14%, remains well below the Eurozone average, which exceeds 20%. Greece had a correspondingly high share of investment in GDP in 2007, but this was mainly due to construction. In the external sector, the contribution of exports in the euro area was positive, +2.5 percentage points, while in Greece it was negative, -1.4 percentage points. The contribution of imports was negative in the Eurozone, -1.7 percentage points, as in Greece, where the contribution was twice as high, -3.5 percentage points.

Finally, the contribution of the change in inventories was positive in the Eurozone, but only +0.2pp, while in Greece it was +5.9pp, which raises questions from economic analysts.