One of Greece's important export sectors is the sale of international shipping services, which are a crucial source of foreign exchange. Having reached an historic high of US$1.8 billion in 1980-81, these earnings then declined to US$1 billion by 1986 before recovering and approaching the US$2 billion level in 1992. In 1992 the foreign exchange earned by shipping equaled one-third the value of Greek merchandise exports and about 13 percent of total exports of goods and services.

In 1992 two-thirds of foreign-exchange earnings from shipping came from shipowners' remittances. The share of sailors' remittances has declined consistently, however, because of increasing utilization of cheaper foreign labor on Greek-owned vessels. Chronic stagnation of the Greek shipping industry in the late 1980s and early 1990s has prevented additional earnings from this source.

Besides shipping, between 1991 and 1993, the largest contributions by invisibles to goods and service export income came from two services: tourism contributed 19 percent, and emigrant remittances added 14 percent. Even before World War I, remittances from the large Greek émigré community began to make a significant contribution to Greece's foreign-exchange earnings. From that time until the mid-1990s, they remained a significant source of foreign currency. Net receipts from various programs of the EC, which averaged US$4 billion per year between 1991 and 1993, amounted to 25 percent of invisibles. The largest types of expenditures recorded under invisible payments were interest, profits, and dividends transferred abroad, amounting to over US$2 billion and representing about 20 percent of all invisible payments; and expenses for Greek tourism abroad which averaged US$1 billion in 1991-93, or 10 percent of invisible payments.

Data as of December 1994

NOTE: The information regarding Greece on this page is re-published from The Library of Congress Country Studies and the CIA World Factbook. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Greece Export and Import Structure information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Greece Export and Import Structure should be addressed to the Library of Congress and the CIA.