Greece hailed again as global economic ‘country of the year’

Athens: The Economist rated Greece as the top-performing economy in 2023. Euronews Business breaks down the study and considers how the rest of Europe performed last year.

Greece led The Economist’s annual ranking of rich-world economies in 2023. The study gathers data on five indicators: “core” inflation – which excludes volatile components such as energy and food; GDP; employment, and stock market performance for 35 global mostly rich countries.

For the second year in a row, Greece has achieved remarkable results. With a GDP growth rate at 1.2%, Greece stands out among other countries for its sharp growth in the real value of the stock market, which rose by 43.8% from 2022 to 2023.

According to The Economist, investors have re-evaluated Greek companies due to the government’s implementation of a set of pro-market reforms.

Greece expects to receive more than €55 bn from EU structural and recovery funds by 2027, which economists estimate will contribute one percentage point in growth annually. Investment is seen growing by about 15.1% in 2024 more than double compared with last year.

The country has yet to return to the more flourishing economy of the early 2010s; however, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has clearly highlighted the improvements.

“Greece’s economic outlook has improved notably with real GDP expanding beyond its pre-pandemic trend level,” an IMF statement reads.

“The banking system has remained resilient with improving balance sheets,” it says, praising digitalization introduced as a result of the pandemic that “shielded substantially productivity and hours worked during the crisis.”

The same study highlighted a less than thriving situation in the rest of Europe.

Hungary is experiencing an 11% year-on-year core inflation rate. Finland, heavily reliant on Russian energy supplies, is also facing difficulties.

France, Germany and Spain are encountering their own sets of issues. Spain, in particular, appears to be witnessing a deepening trend in inflation over time.

While only a handful of countries experienced GDP declines, Ireland reported the most significant drop at 4.1% (though this figure may not fully capture the situation due to measurement issues in Irish GDP).

Both Britain and Germany exhibited lower-than-anticipated performance. Germany is contending with the aftermath of an energy-price shock and heightened competition from imported Chinese automobiles.

Meanwhile, Britain continues to handle the aftermath of Brexit, with most economists foreseeing subdued economic growth in the upcoming years.