For my June holidays this year, we decided to check out Greece – with stops in Athens, Santorini and Crete. I had a blast! The trip had everything: History, Archaeology, Gastronomy and Scenery.

In this article though, I want to share with you the Top 10 Business Facts About Greece. Enjoy!

#1

Greece is generally credited with having the world’s first democracy. This began in Athens, when the leader at the time Cleisthenes, implemented a system called “demokratia”, which when translated means “rule by the people.”

#2

Greece is today classified as an advanced economy. It was a founding member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Organisation of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC). It is now also a member of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

#3

In 2001, Greece adopted the euro as its currency, replacing the Greek drachma at an exchange rate of 340.75 drachmae per euro.

#4

In 2008 (right before the debt crisis), Greece was the largest importer of conventional weapons in Europe and its military spending was the highest in the European Union relative to the country’s GDP, reaching twice the European average.

#5

Greece’s problems were triggered when Athens said its budget deficit had ballooned to 13% of GDP in 2009 – much worse than previously estimated. The markets were spooked and Athens was forced to seek international help.

#6

Over 8 years, Greece received a total of 310 billion euros in their international bailout package. To understand the magnitude of the bailout, this is bigger than the size of Hong Kong’s, Malaysia’s or Denmark’s economy.

#7

In August 2018, Greece exited an eight-year bailout program which focused on economic reforms and deeply unpopular austerity measures. This was the longest recession of any advanced capitalist economy to date, overtaking the US Great Depression.

#8
In March 2019, Greece sold 10-year bonds for the first time since before the bailout. The syndicated offer for the 2029 notes were priced to yield 3.9 percent. Investor orders for the sale topped 11.8 billion euros.

#9
In June 2019, it was reported that the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) became the best performing stock market in the world – having surged more than 40% year to date.

#10

The top two Greek billionaires on Forbes 2019 list is Philip Niarchos, an art collector with a net worth of USD2.8 billion and shipping tycoon Spiros Latsis, with a net worth of USD2.7 billion.

To your success,

Mario