Alpha Bank: Greek Tourism Going Strong, Boosting Employment

Tourism is moving full speed ahead, according to Alpha Bank analysts citing Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) data for the January-April 2018 period, while the industrial production index remained steady on an annual basis compared to a 7.1 percent rise in the same period in 2017.

In the same period, the production indexes of 16 of the 24 manufacturing sectors demonstrated a positive annual growth rate, with seven of these surpassing 2010 levels.

According to the Alpha Bank bulletin, the first four months of the year saw an increase in new orders, an a rise in production and employment in manufacturing production. At the same time, a high percentage of respondents to the bank’s survey predicted an increase in production over the next 12 months, reflecting an overall improvement in economic conditions and in view of increasing orders.

Meanwhile, trade, tourism and transport contributed to Greece’s GDP and 0.6 percentage points to GVA, with tourism also supporting retail trade in a period of weak domestic consumer spending.

According to the bank’s analysts, industry, trade, tourism and the wider public sector have contributed positively to employment. Indicatively, the report says, in 2017 the civil service accounted for over 26.1 thousand new employees, followed by trade at 21.3 thousand, industry at 16.1 thousand and tourism at 9.5 thousand.

According to ELSTAT data, the upward trend continued in the first four months of 2018 y-o-y to 64.5 thousand people.