Shipping receipts, along with those from travel services, were and are necessary to cover a large part of the goods balance deficit and, by extension, the country's external financing needs, said the Governor of Bank of Greece Yannis Stournaras, speaking at the Piraeus Shipping Club.

As he stressed, according to Bank of Greece data, receipts from maritime transport services in the period 2019-2023 exceeded, on average, € 16.5 billion  per year (i.e., about 8.7% of GDP), accounting for more than 40% of the total balance of service receipts. Over the same period, net receipts (receipts minus payments) averaged around € 6.6 billion per year and covered about a quarter of the goods deficit.

In particular, 2022 was a record year for maritime receipts, amounting to €21 billion. Although a decrease was recorded in 2023, they remained at the high level of €18 billion. Already, according to the data available for the seven months January–July 2024, an increase of more than 4% in maritime transport receipts has been recorded, compared to the same period last year.

According to United Nations (UNCTAD) data, the Greek-owned fleet represents more than 17% of the world fleet (in terms of tonnage—dwt), which ranks it in the first place in global shipping. However, only 13% of the Greek-owned fleet is registered under the Greek flag, although a significant part of it is managed by Greece. Based on the data of the model for the estimation of Greek shipping activity developed by the Bank of Greece, in 2023 the country will be managing nearly 3,000 vessels of a total capacity of 188 million metric tons (dwt) with a weighted average age of 12 years.

Greek-owned shipping and the wider maritime cluster can play a decisive role in the recovery of the Greek economy, contributing to GDP growth both directly and indirectly. According to a recent study by IOBE (2023), the overall impact of shipping on Greek GDP was estimated at 7.9% (average for the period 2018-2021). Moreover, shipping companies can play an important role in filling the investment gap in the Greek economy through their investments in the Greek economy in sectors related to shipping (such as shipyards) or outside shipping (such as tourism investments).

In conclusion, policy measures are needed to attract more ships to the Greek flag as well as to their commercial management by Greece. In addition, the expansion and enlargement of the services provided by the maritime cluster, including those of shipyards and new technologies, could increase the contribution of shipping to the Gross Domestic Product and enhance the extroversion of the Greek economy.