severe earthquakes
volcanism: Santorini (367 m) has been deemed a Decade Volcano by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior, worthy of study due to its explosive history and close proximity to human populations; although there have been very few eruptions in recent centuries, Methana and Nisyros in the Aegean are classified as historically active
" }, "Environment - current issues": { "text": "air pollution; air emissions from transport and electricity power stations; water pollution; degradation of coastal zones; loss of biodiversity in terrestrial and marine ecosystems; increasing municipal and industrial waste" }, "Environment - international agreements": { "party to": { "text": "Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands" }, "signed, but not ratified": { "text": "Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds" } }, "Geography - note": { "text": "strategic location dominating the Aegean Sea and southern approach to Turkish Straits; a peninsular country, possessing an archipelago of about 2,000 islands" } }, "People and Society": { "Population": { "text": "10,569,703 (July 2021 est.)" }, "Nationality": { "noun": { "text": "Greek(s)" }, "adjective": { "text": "Greek" } }, "Ethnic groups": { "text": "Greek 91.6%, Albanian 4.4%, other 4% (2011)", "note": "note: data represent citizenship; Greece does not collect data on ethnicity
" }, "Languages": { "text": "Greek (official) 99%, other (includes English and French) 1%" }, "Religions": { "text": "Greek Orthodox (official) 81-90%, Muslim 2%, other 3%, none 4-15%, unspecified 1% (2015 est.)" }, "Age structure": { "0-14 years": { "text": "14.53% (male 794,918/female 745,909)" }, "15-24 years": { "text": "10.34% (male 577,134/female 519,819)" }, "25-54 years": { "text": "39.6% (male 2,080,443/female 2,119,995)" }, "55-64 years": { "text": "13.1% (male 656,404/female 732,936)" }, "65 years and over": { "text": "22.43% (male 1,057,317/female 1,322,176) (2020 est.)" } }, "Dependency ratios": { "total dependency ratio": { "text": "56.1" }, "youth dependency ratio": { "text": "21.3" }, "elderly dependency ratio": { "text": "34.8" }, "potential support ratio": { "text": "2.9 (2020 est.)" } }, "Median age": { "total": { "text": "45.3 years" }, "male": { "text": "43.7 years" }, "female": { "text": "46.8 years (2020 est.)" } }, "Population growth rate": { "text": "-0.34% (2021 est.)" }, "Birth rate": { "text": "7.72 births/1,000 population (2021 est.)" }, "Death rate": { "text": "12.05 deaths/1,000 population (2021 est.)" }, "Net migration rate": { "text": "0.97 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2021 est.)" }, "Population distribution": { "text": "one-third of the population lives in and around metropolitan Athens; the remainder of the country has moderate population density mixed with sizeable urban clusters" }, "Urbanization": { "urban population": { "text": "79.7% of total population (2020)" }, "rate of urbanization": { "text": "0.22% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.)" } }, "Major urban areas - population": { "text": "3.153 million ATHENS (capital), 812,000 Thessaloniki (2020)" }, "Sex ratio": { "at birth": { "text": "1.07 male(s)/female" }, "0-14 years": { "text": "1.07 male(s)/female" }, "15-24 years": { "text": "1.11 male(s)/female" }, "25-54 years": { "text": "0.98 male(s)/female" }, "55-64 years": { "text": "0.9 male(s)/female" }, "65 years and over": { "text": "0.8 male(s)/female" }, "total population": { "text": "0.95 male(s)/female (2020 est.)" } }, "Mother's mean age at first birth": { "text": "29.9 years (2017 est.)" }, "Maternal mortality rate": { "text": "3 deaths/100,000 live births (2017 est.)" }, "Infant mortality rate": { "total": { "text": "3.61 deaths/1,000 live births" }, "male": { "text": "4 deaths/1,000 live births" }, "female": { "text": "3.19 deaths/1,000 live births (2021 est.)" } }, "Life expectancy at birth": { "total population": { "text": "81.28 years" }, "male": { "text": "78.73 years" }, "female": { "text": "84 years (2021 est.)" } }, "Total fertility rate": { "text": "1.39 children born/woman (2021 est.)" }, "Drinking water source": { "improved: urban": { "text": "urban: 100% of population" }, "improved: rural": { "text": "rural: 100% of population" }, "improved: total": { "text": "total: 100% of population" }, "unimproved: urban": { "text": "urban: 0% of population" }, "unimproved: rural": { "text": "rural: 0% of population" }, "unimproved: total": { "text": "total: 0% of population (2017 est.)" } }, "Current Health Expenditure": { "text": "8% (2017)" }, "Physicians density": { "text": "5.48 physicians/1,000 population (2017)" }, "Hospital bed density": { "text": "4.2 beds/1,000 population (2017)" }, "Sanitation facility access": { "improved: urban": { "text": "urban: 100% of population" }, "improved: rural": { "text": "rural: 100% of population" }, "improved: total": { "text": "total: 100% of population" }, "unimproved: urban": { "text": "urban: 0% of population" }, "unimproved: rural": { "text": "rural: 0% of population" }, "unimproved: total": { "text": "total: 0% of population (2017 est.)" } }, "HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate": { "text": "0.2% (2017 est.)" }, "HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS": { "text": "14,000 (2017 est.)" }, "HIV/AIDS - deaths": { "text": "<100 (2017 est.)" }, "Obesity - adult prevalence rate": { "text": "24.9% (2016)" }, "Education expenditures": { "text": "NA" }, "Literacy": { "definition": { "text": "age 15 and over can read and write" }, "total population": { "text": "97.7%" }, "male": { "text": "98.5%" }, "female": { "text": "96.9% (2015)" } }, "School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)": { "total": { "text": "20 years" }, "male": { "text": "20 years" }, "female": { "text": "20 years (2018)" } }, "Unemployment, youth ages 15-24": { "total": { "text": "39.9%" }, "male": { "text": "36.4%" }, "female": { "text": "43.9% (2018 est.)" } } }, "Government": { "Country name": { "conventional long form": { "text": "Hellenic Republic" }, "conventional short form": { "text": "Greece" }, "local long form": { "text": "Elliniki Dimokratia" }, "local short form": { "text": "Ellas or Ellada" }, "former": { "text": "Hellenic State, Kingdom of Greece" }, "etymology": { "text": "the English name derives from the Roman (Latin) designation \"Graecia,\" meaning \"Land of the Greeks\"; the Greeks call their country \"Hellas\" or \"Ellada\"" } }, "Government type": { "text": "parliamentary republic" }, "Capital": { "name": { "text": "Athens" }, "geographic coordinates": { "text": "37 59 N, 23 44 E" }, "time difference": { "text": "UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)" }, "daylight saving time": { "text": "+1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October" }, "note": "note: Greek legislation states that the flag colors are cyan and white, but cyan can mean \"blue\" in Greek, so the exact shade of blue has never been set and has varied from a light to a dark blue over time; in general, the hue of blue normally encountered is a form of azure
" }, "National symbol(s)": { "text": "Greek cross (white cross on blue field, arms equal length); national colors: blue, white" }, "National anthem": { "name": { "text": "\"Ymnos eis tin Eleftherian\" (Hymn to Liberty)" }, "lyrics/music": { "text": "Dionysios SOLOMOS/Nikolaos MANTZAROS" }, "note": "note: adopted 1864; the anthem is based on a 158-stanza poem by the same name, which was inspired by the Greek Revolution of 1821 against the Ottomans (only the first two stanzas are used); Cyprus also uses \"Hymn to Liberty\" as its anthem
" } }, "Economy": { "Economic overview": { "text": "Greece has a capitalist economy with a public sector accounting for about 40% of GDP and with per capita GDP about two-thirds that of the leading euro-zone economies. Tourism provides 18% of GDP. Immigrants make up nearly one-fifth of the work force, mainly in agricultural and unskilled jobs. Greece is a major beneficiary of EU aid, equal to about 3.3% of annual GDP.
The Greek economy averaged growth of about 4% per year between 2003 and 2007, but the economy went into recession in 2009 as a result of the world financial crisis, tightening credit conditions, and Athens' failure to address a growing budget deficit. By 2013, the economy had contracted 26%, compared with the pre-crisis level of 2007. Greece met the EU's Growth and Stability Pact budget deficit criterion of no more than 3% of GDP in 2007-08, but violated it in 2009, when the deficit reached 15% of GDP. Deteriorating public finances, inaccurate and misreported statistics, and consistent underperformance on reforms prompted major credit rating agencies to downgrade Greece's international debt rating in late 2009 and led the country into a financial crisis. Under intense pressure from the EU and international market participants, the government accepted a bailout program that called on Athens to cut government spending, decrease tax evasion, overhaul the civil-service, health-care, and pension systems, and reform the labor and product markets. Austerity measures reduced the deficit to 1.3% in 2017. Successive Greek governments, however, failed to push through many of the most unpopular reforms in the face of widespread political opposition, including from the country's powerful labor unions and the general public.
In April 2010, a leading credit agency assigned Greek debt its lowest possible credit rating, and in May 2010, the IMF and euro-zone governments provided Greece emergency short- and medium-term loans worth $147 billion so that the country could make debt repayments to creditors. Greece, however, struggled to meet the targets set by the EU and the IMF, especially after Eurostat - the EU's statistical office - revised upward Greece's deficit and debt numbers for 2009 and 2010. European leaders and the IMF agreed in October 2011 to provide Athens a second bailout package of $169 billion. The second deal called for holders of Greek government bonds to write down a significant portion of their holdings to try to alleviate Greece’s government debt burden. However, Greek banks, saddled with a significant portion of sovereign debt, were adversely affected by the write down and $60 billion of the second bailout package was set aside to ensure the banking system was adequately capitalized.
In 2014, the Greek economy began to turn the corner on the recession. Greece achieved three significant milestones: balancing the budget - not including debt repayments; issuing government debt in financial markets for the first time since 2010; and generating 0.7% GDP growth — the first economic expansion since 2007.
Despite the nascent recovery, widespread discontent with austerity measures helped propel the far-left Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) party into government in national legislative elections in January 2015. Between January and July 2015, frustrations grew between the SYRIZA-led government and Greece’s EU and IMF creditors over the implementation of bailout measures and disbursement of funds. The Greek government began running up significant arrears to suppliers, while Greek banks relied on emergency lending, and Greece’s future in the euro zone was called into question. To stave off a collapse of the banking system, Greece imposed capital controls in June 2015, then became the first developed nation to miss a loan payment to the IMF, rattling international financial markets. Unable to reach an agreement with creditors, Prime Minister Alexios TSIPRAS held a nationwide referendum on 5 July on whether to accept the terms of Greece’s bailout, campaigning for the ultimately successful \"no\" vote. The TSIPRAS government subsequently agreed, however, to a new $96 billion bailout in order to avert Greece’s exit from the monetary bloc. On 20 August 2015, Greece signed its third bailout, allowing it to cover significant debt payments to its EU and IMF creditors and to ensure the banking sector retained access to emergency liquidity. The TSIPRAS government — which retook office on 20 September 2015 after calling new elections in late August — successfully secured disbursal of two delayed tranches of bailout funds. Despite the economic turmoil, Greek GDP did not contract as sharply as feared, boosted in part by a strong tourist season.
In 2017, Greece saw improvements in GDP and unemployment. Unfinished economic reforms, a massive non-performing loan problem, and ongoing uncertainty regarding the political direction of the country hold the economy back. Some estimates put Greece’s black market at 20- to 25% of GDP, as more people have stopped reporting their income to avoid paying taxes that, in some cases, have risen to 70% of an individual’s gross income.
" }, "Real GDP growth rate": { "Real GDP growth rate 2019": { "text": "1.87% (2019 est.)" }, "Real GDP growth rate 2018": { "text": "1.91% (2018 est.)" }, "Real GDP growth rate 2017": { "text": "1.44% (2017 est.)" } }, "Inflation rate (consumer prices)": { "Inflation rate (consumer prices) 2019": { "text": "0.2% (2019 est.)" }, "Inflation rate (consumer prices) 2018": { "text": "0.6% (2018 est.)" }, "Inflation rate (consumer prices) 2017": { "text": "1.1% (2017 est.)" } }, "Credit ratings": { "Fitch rating": { "text": "BB (2020)" }, "Moody's rating": { "text": "Ba3 (2020)" }, "Standard & Poors rating": { "text": "BB- (2019)" } }, "Real GDP (purchasing power parity)": { "Real GDP (purchasing power parity) 2019": { "text": "$269.002 billion (2019 est.)" }, "Real GDP (purchasing power parity) 2018": { "text": "$264.069 billion (2018 est.)" }, "Real GDP (purchasing power parity) 2017": { "text": "$259.117 billion (2017 est.)" }, "note": "note: data are in 2010 dollars
" }, "GDP (official exchange rate)": { "text": "$209.79 billion (2019 est.)" }, "Real GDP per capita": { "Real GDP per capita 2019": { "text": "$24,588 (2019 est.)" }, "Real GDP per capita 2018": { "text": "$24,025 (2018 est.)" }, "Real GDP per capita 2017": { "text": "$23,470 (2017 est.)" }, "note": "note: data are in 2010 dollars
" }, "Gross national saving": { "Gross national saving 2017": { "text": "10.9% of GDP (2017 est.)" }, "Gross national saving 2016": { "text": "9.5% of GDP (2016 est.)" }, "Gross national saving 2015": { "text": "9.6% of GDP (2015 est.)" } }, "GDP - composition, by sector of origin": { "agriculture": { "text": "4.1% (2017 est.)" }, "industry": { "text": "16.9% (2017 est.)" }, "services": { "text": "79.1% (2017 est.)" } }, "GDP - composition, by end use": { "household consumption": { "text": "69.6% (2017 est.)" }, "government consumption": { "text": "20.1% (2017 est.)" }, "investment in fixed capital": { "text": "12.5% (2017 est.)" }, "investment in inventories": { "text": "-1% (2017 est.)" }, "exports of goods and services": { "text": "33.4% (2017 est.)" }, "imports of goods and services": { "text": "-34.7% (2017 est.)" } }, "Ease of Doing Business Index scores": { "Overall Ease of Doing Business score 2020": { "text": "68.4 (2020)" } }, "Agricultural products": { "text": "maize, olives, wheat, milk, peaches/nectarines, oranges, tomatoes, grapes, milk, potatoes" }, "Industries": { "text": "tourism, food and tobacco processing, textiles, chemicals, metal products; mining, petroleum" }, "Industrial production growth rate": { "text": "3.5% (2017 est.)" }, "Labor force": { "text": "4 million (2020 est.)" }, "Labor force - by occupation": { "agriculture": { "text": "12.6%" }, "industry": { "text": "15%" }, "services": { "text": "72.4% (30 October 2015 est.)" } }, "Unemployment rate": { "Unemployment rate 2019": { "text": "17.3% (2019 est.)" }, "Unemployment rate 2018": { "text": "19.34% (2018 est.)" } }, "Population below poverty line": { "text": "36% (2014 est.)" }, "Gini Index coefficient - distribution of family income": { "Gini Index coefficient - distribution of family income 2017": { "text": "34.4 (2017 est.)" }, "Gini Index coefficient - distribution of family income 2011": { "text": "35.7 (2011)" } }, "Household income or consumption by percentage share": { "lowest 10%": { "text": "1.7%" }, "highest 10%": { "text": "26.7% (2015 est.)" } }, "Budget": { "revenues": { "text": "97.99 billion (2017 est.)" }, "expenditures": { "text": "96.35 billion (2017 est.)" } }, "Taxes and other revenues": { "text": "48.8% (of GDP) (2017 est.)" }, "Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-)": { "text": "0.8% (of GDP) (2017 est.)" }, "Public debt": { "Public debt 2017": { "text": "181.8% of GDP (2017 est.)" }, "Public debt 2016": { "text": "183.5% of GDP (2016 est.)" } }, "Fiscal year": { "text": "calendar year" }, "Current account balance": { "Current account balance 2019": { "text": "-$3.114 billion (2019 est.)" }, "Current account balance 2018": { "text": "-$6.245 billion (2018 est.)" } }, "Exports": { "Exports 2019": { "text": "$92.925 billion (2019 est.)" }, "Exports 2018": { "text": "$88.511 billion (2018 est.)" }, "Exports 2017": { "text": "$81.196 billion (2017 est.)" } }, "Exports - partners": { "text": "Italy 10.6%, Germany 7.1%, Turkey 6.8%, Cyprus 6.5%, Bulgaria 4.9%, Lebanon 4.3% (2017)" }, "Exports - commodities": { "text": "food and beverages, manufactured goods, petroleum products, chemicals, textiles" }, "Imports": { "Imports 2019": { "text": "$94.597 billion (2019 est.)" }, "Imports 2018": { "text": "$91.798 billion (2018 est.)" }, "Imports 2017": { "text": "$85.092 billion (2017 est.)" } }, "Imports - partners": { "text": "Germany 10.4%, Italy 8.2%, Russia 6.8%, Iraq 6.3%, South Korea 6.1%, China 5.4%, Netherlands 5.3%, France 4.3% (2017)" }, "Imports - commodities": { "text": "machinery, transport equipment, fuels, chemicals" }, "Reserves of foreign exchange and gold": { "Reserves of foreign exchange and gold 31 December 2017": { "text": "$7.807 billion (31 December 2017 est.)" }, "Reserves of foreign exchange and gold 31 December 2015": { "text": "$6.026 billion (31 December 2015 est.)" } }, "Debt - external": { "Debt - external 31 March 2016": { "text": "$506.6 billion (31 March 2016 est.)" }, "Debt - external 31 March 2015": { "text": "$468.2 billion (31 March 2015 est.)" } }, "Exchange rates": { "currency": { "text": "euros (EUR) per US dollar -" }, "Exchange rates 2020": { "text": "0.82771 (2020 est.)" }, "Exchange rates 2019": { "text": "0.90338 (2019 est.)" }, "Exchange rates 2018": { "text": "0.87789 (2018 est.)" }, "Exchange rates 2014": { "text": "0.885 (2014 est.)" }, "Exchange rates 2013": { "text": "0.7634 (2013 est.)" } } }, "Energy": { "Electricity access": { "electrification - total population": { "text": "100% (2020)" } }, "Electricity - production": { "text": "52.05 billion kWh (2016 est.)" }, "Electricity - consumption": { "text": "56.89 billion kWh (2016 est.)" }, "Electricity - exports": { "text": "1.037 billion kWh (2016 est.)" }, "Electricity - imports": { "text": "9.833 billion kWh (2016 est.)" }, "Electricity - installed generating capacity": { "text": "19.17 million kW (2016 est.)" }, "Electricity - from fossil fuels": { "text": "57% of total installed capacity (2016 est.)" }, "Electricity - from nuclear fuels": { "text": "0% of total installed capacity (2017 est.)" }, "Electricity - from hydroelectric plants": { "text": "14% of total installed capacity (2017 est.)" }, "Electricity - from other renewable sources": { "text": "29% of total installed capacity (2017 est.)" }, "Crude oil - production": { "text": "4,100 bbl/day (2018 est.)" }, "Crude oil - exports": { "text": "3,229 bbl/day (2017 est.)" }, "Crude oil - imports": { "text": "484,300 bbl/day (2017 est.)" }, "Crude oil - proved reserves": { "text": "10 million bbl (1 January 2018 est.)" }, "Refined petroleum products - production": { "text": "655,400 bbl/day (2017 est.)" }, "Refined petroleum products - consumption": { "text": "304,100 bbl/day (2017 est.)" }, "Refined petroleum products - exports": { "text": "371,900 bbl/day (2017 est.)" }, "Refined petroleum products - imports": { "text": "192,200 bbl/day (2017 est.)" }, "Natural gas - production": { "text": "8 million cu m (2017 est.)" }, "Natural gas - consumption": { "text": "4.927 billion cu m (2017 est.)" }, "Natural gas - exports": { "text": "0 cu m (2017 est.)" }, "Natural gas - imports": { "text": "4.984 billion cu m (2017 est.)" }, "Natural gas - proved reserves": { "text": "991.1 million cu m (1 January 2018 est.)" }, "Carbon dioxide emissions from consumption of energy": { "text": "69.37 million Mt (2017 est.)" } }, "Communications": { "Telephones - fixed lines": { "total subscriptions": { "text": "5,080,386" }, "subscriptions per 100 inhabitants": { "text": "47.75 (2019 est.)" } }, "Telephones - mobile cellular": { "total subscriptions": { "text": "12,070,571" }, "subscriptions per 100 inhabitants": { "text": "113.45 (2019 est.)" } }, "Telecommunication systems": { "general assessment": { "text": "good mobile telephone and international services; 3 mobile network operators; broadband penetration developing steadily despite rough economic conditions; plans to repurpose 3G network for LTE and 5G by 2022 (2020)" }, "domestic": { "text": "microwave radio relay trunk system; extensive open-wire connections; submarine cable to offshore islands; 48 per 100 for fixed-line and 114 per 100 for mobile-cellular (2019)" }, "international": { "text": "country code - 30; landing points for the SEA-ME-WE-3, Adria-1, Italy-Greece 1, OTEGLOBE, MedNautilus Submarine System, Aphrodite 2, AAE-1 and Silphium optical telecommunications submarine cable that provides links to Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia, Asia and Australia; tropospheric scatter; satellite earth stations - 4 (2 Intelsat - 1 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean, 1 Eutelsat, and 1 Inmarsat - Indian Ocean region) (2019)" }, "note": "Greece and Turkey continue discussions to resolve their complex maritime, air, territorial, and boundary disputes in the Aegean Sea; the mass migration of unemployed Albanians still remains a problem for developed countries, chiefly Greece and Italy
" }, "Refugees and internally displaced persons": { "refugees (country of origin)": { "text": "26,696 (Syria), 17,685 (Afghanistan), 9,614 (Afghanistan) (2019)" }, "stateless persons": { "text": "4,734 (2019)" }, "note": "note: 1,204,806 estimated refugee and migrant arrivals (January 2015-December 2020); as of the end of December 2019, an estimated 112,300 migrants and refugees were stranded in Greece since 2015-16
" }, "Illicit drugs": { "text": "a gateway to Europe for traffickers smuggling cannabis and heroin from the Middle East and Southwest Asia to the West and precursor chemicals to the East; some South American cocaine transits or is consumed in Greece; money laundering related to drug trafficking and organized crime" } } }