In the first eleven months of 2024, travel receipts exceeded €21 billion, having already broken the 2023 record a month earlier, according to Bank of Greece data. 

Specifically, in November, tourism receipts in the country reached 617.9 million euros compared to 426.9 million in the same month of 2023, bringing the total for the January-November period of 2024 to 21.266 billion euros. It is recalled that in the eleven months of 2023, tourism receipts reached about 20.267 billion euros, an increase of 4.9%.

ΑCCOUNT DEFICIT

In November 2024, the current account deficit recorded a slight decrease compared to the corresponding month of 2023, due to the improvement in the services and primary income balances, which was almost entirely offset by the deterioration in the goods balance and, to a lesser extent, the secondary income balance.

In the January-November 2024 period, the current account deficit recorded an increase compared to the same period in 2023, due to the deterioration in the goods balance and, to a lesser extent, the primary income balance, which was partly offset by an improvement mainly in the secondary income balance but also in the services balance.

According to the Bank of Greece, in November 2024, the current account deficit decreased by €31.8 million compared with the corresponding month of 2023, to €3.2 billion.

The goods deficit widened as a decline in exports was recorded, while imports increased. At current prices, exports of goods fell by 5.8% (-2.0% at constant prices) and imports of goods increased by 2.3% (3.8% at constant prices). At current prices, exports of goods excluding fuel rose by 2.5% (3.1% at constant prices), and imports of goods excluding fuel increased by 3.5% (3.2% at constant prices). The surplus of the services balance increased, driven primarily by an improvement in the travel services balance and secondarily in the other services balance, while the transport balance deteriorated. Compared to November 2023, non-resident traveler arrivals increased by 23.6% and related receipts by 44.7%. The primary income balance improved compared with the same month in 2023, mainly reflecting a decrease in net payments for interest, dividends and profits and an increase in net receipts from other primary income. The deficit on the secondary income account recorded a slight increase compared with the corresponding month in 2023, as a result of an increase in net payments to the general government sector.

In the January-November 2024 period, the current account deficit increased by 510.9 million compared with the corresponding period of 2023, to 11.5 billion euros.

The goods deficit widened due to a decline in exports and a simultaneous increase in imports. At current prices, exports of goods decreased by 3.6% (3.3% at constant prices) and imports of goods increased by 1.5% (3.0% at constant prices). In particular, at current prices, exports of goods excluding fuel rose marginally (0.1%), while imports increased by 4.2% (-2.3% and 4.2% at constant prices, respectively). 

The surplus of the services balance widened, mainly due to an improvement in the travel balance and, to a lesser extent, in the other services balance, while the surplus of the transport balance narrowed. Compared with the January-November 2023 period, non-resident traveler arrivals increased by 9.7 percent and related receipts by 4.9 percent.

The primary income balance deficit widened relative to the same period in 2023, mainly due to a decline in net receipts from other primary income, partly offset by a decline in net payments for interest, dividends and profits. The surplus on the secondary income balance more than doubled compared to the same period in 2023, due to an increase in net receipts in the other non-general government sectors of the economy.