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ing the first quarter of 2014 barely reached 1,901.2 million ¬ down from 2,339.2 million ¬,
receding by 18.7% and were almost 2/3 of total Greek exports. More specifically, exports
towards the EU15 countries decreased by -21.2% reaching 1,400.5 million ¬, towards those
of the EU25 by -19.7% reaching 1,780.9 million ¬, while to the countries of the EU27 the
biggest drop was registered (-21.3%, 2,116.3 million ¬ in the first quarter of 2014) because
of the huge drop in the value of Greek exports both towards Bulgaria (-31%) and Romanis
(-23.8%).
Especially significant export decreases were registered towards Italy (399.8 million ¬ or -
18.4%), Germany (367.7 million ¬ or -20.9%), France (140.1 million ¬ or -28.7), and the UK
(132,4 million ¬ or -29.9%). Despite the significant decrease in exports towards Italy and
Germany, both of these countries remain the most significant importers of Greek products,
together accounting for 55% of the value of exports towards the EU15 and 23% of overall
Greek exports.
As concerns the countries of the latest enlargement, exports decreased visibly (-13.7%)
barely reaching 380.4 million ¬ as against 440.9 million ¬ in the same period in 2013. This
decrease is due to the lower value of exports towards almost all of the countries of the new
enlargement, the only exceptions being the exports (although low in value)towards
Slovakia (11.3 million ¬ or +3.5%) and Malta (10.1 million ¬ or +48.6%). Exports towards
Cyprus, which is the main customer for Greek products among the ten new countries and
absorbs 66% of the overall exports towards these countries, remained more or less stable
(1.6%) reaching 251.7 million ¬ from 247.7 million ¬ in the first quarter of 2013.
Exports to North America increased slightly (4.9%) reaching 211.8 million ¬ as against 201.8
million ¬ in the first quarter of 2013. the resurgence of Greek exports towards this region
is mainly due to the increased value of exports towards the USA (188 million ¬ or 5.6%).
Exports to Canada also increased (6,1%), while the smaller in value exports to Mexico
receded (6.4 million ¬ or -13.5%). Exports to the "other developed countries" increased by
6.3% reaching 33.9 million ¬ in the first quarter of 2014. The decrease (-5.7%) in the value of
Greek exports towards Australia, which is the main partner in the category, were offset by
an increase of exports to Japan (15.4 million ¬ or an increase of 22%). The drop in exports
(-21.5%) towards the "remaining OECD countries" is exclusively due to the great decrease
of exports towards Turkey (116 million ¬ or -25.8%), while the low value exports to Norway
also dropped significantly (-25.4% or 6.9 million ¬). The increase in the value of Greek
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/ TRIIRIS / JUNE 2015
THE GLOBAL CRISIS AFFECT EXPORTS