The 2023 annual Greek Trade Report indicates that the effects of the decade-long economic crisis and austerity measures still burden Greek households. Despite recent income and consumer spending growth, the gap from pre-crisis levels in 2008 remains substantial.
Between 2008 and 2022, total monthly expenditure plummeted by roughly 24.4%, primarily due to internal devaluation policies during economic and subsequent crises like healthcare and energy. Despite a 2019 uptick, consumer spending dropped below 2018 levels in 2020 due to the pandemic.
While there was a 6.6% spending increase in 2021, it failed to fully recover from 2020 losses, remaining below 2019 and 2018 levels. Conversely, 2022 saw a 12.72% surge, balanced against 3.5% inflation in 2023.
Household spending on food and beverages rose significantly over the years. In 2008, food accounted for 16.4% of total spending, reaching a 3.7% increase by 2018. During the pandemic, food spending peaked at 23.1% in 2020 and nearly 22% in 2021, while flexible expenses like clothing and appliances decreased.
In 2008, 8.22% of monthly expenses went to clothes and shoes, nearly halving to 4.83% by 2022. Similarly, household appliance spending dropped from 0.79% in 2008 to 0.59% in 2021, rising slightly to 0.62% in 2022.
The successive crises widened inequalities in Greek society and hampered retail businesses, particularly smaller ones, leaving them stagnant and with limited growth prospects.
