Greek 2022 trade deficit widens, imports outpaced exports

ATHENS, Feb 20 (Reuters) – Greece’s current account deficit widened last year compared to 2021, as increased imports outpaced exports despite strong tourism revenues, data from the Bank of Greece showed on Monday.

Central bank data showed the current account deficit was 20.14 billion euros ($21.54 billion) last year from 12.27 billion euros in 2021.

“A rise in the deficit of the balance of goods is accounted for by a larger increase in imports than in exports,” the Bank of Greece said.

Stripping out fuels, exports grew by 7.0% at constant prices while imports increased 15.5%, the central bank said.

Tourism revenue rose to 17.6 billion euros in 2022 from 10.5 billion euros the previous year thanks to a strong rebound in arrivals as the sector recovered strongly after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Foreign arrivals were up by 89% in 2022, equating to nearly 89% of the level in 2019, a record year for tourism.

At the end of December, Greek reserve assets dropped to 11.3 billion euros, from 12.8 billion at the end of 2021, the data showed.

($1 = 0.9348 euros)