Increased revenues from tourism and other service exports more than covered the decline in product exports in the first half of 2024, contributing to the growth trajectory of the Greek economy.

According to Bank of Greece balance of payments data, tourism receipts increased by €755 million compared to the first half of 2023, reaching €6.9 billion. Overall, revenues from exports of services, which include transport and are heavily reliant on maritime foreign exchange, increased by almost €1.5 billion to €7.2 billion, while exports of goods decreased by €743 million to €24.7 billion.

According to Athens News Agency, this highlights the increasingly important role of tourism and of the overall undisclosed resources for the growth of the Greek economy, even at a time when the Eurozone economy is in stagnation. These conditions have contributed to the decline in Greek product exports after their impressive surge in 2021–2022, when they almost doubled, reaching €53.8 billion from €28.9 billion in 2020 (in 2019, before the coronavirus, they amounted to €32.4 billion).

Revenue from service exports amounted to 87% of goods exports in the first half of 2024, compared to 78% in the first half of 2023. Given that tourism receipts typically double in the second half of the year, as the highest volume of tourists comes in July and August, this figure is expected to be significantly higher for the full year and likely to exceed 100%. As an indication, last year the corresponding figure was 99.3%.

Exports of goods fell in the first half of the year more at constant prices than at current prices (by 5.9% versus 2.9%), indicating a price increase of around 3%. In contrast, imports of goods increased by 3.4% in current prices to €42.2 billion and by 3.8% in constant prices, implying that their prices were slightly lower than in the first half of 2023.

Greeks' payments for foreign travel, transportation, and other services increased by €900 million in the first half of the year, bringing total imports to €14.1 billion.

The surplus on the services balance increased by around €550 million to €7.2 billion, covering more than 40% of the deficit on the goods balance. Investors and rating agencies take into account the current account deficit, which decreased significantly to EUR 8.8 billion as a result.

Capital inflows, primarily for investments in Greek government bonds and the purchase of shares in Greek companies, were able to cover the current account deficit.