The monstrous decline in the purchasing power of the Greeks

Inflation and lower wage growth make Greece the only country in Europe whose population has lost the most purchasing power.

After so many memorandums and crises, the Greek economy is struggling to recover. The purchasing power of the Greeks collapsed. Overall, inflation and lower wage growth compared to other countries EU make our country the only country in Europe whose population has lost so much purchasing power since 2000, as reflected in the Datadicto Mercado Libre report with Eurostat data cited in it.

In particular, the Greeks ended 2022 with purchasing power 18.2% lower than in 2000, ahead only of Italy (-2.2%) and Spain (-0.7%). In all other countries, the assessment is determined with a + sign (i.e., a positive trend is recorded). On the contrary, they stand out Eastern European countries whose purchasing power has increased dramatically over the past two decades.

The loss of purchasing power will continue if we analyze only consumer basket, since food prices have almost doubled since 2002.

https://rua.gr/news/bissecon/57952-greki-ekonomyat-na-ede-chto-by-oplatit-scheta-za-elektroenergiyu.html

For comparison, in Portugal’s purchasing power increased by 17% over the same period. Germany (15%), Sweden (8%) and France (7%) are equally positive.. The countries that are part of Germany’s sphere of influence (Poland and the Czech Republic), as well as the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) are far behind. Tax cuts, rising wages and European capital investment led to a cycle of impressive growth.

Latvia looks the best, with incredible wage growth (637.3%) eclipsing an equally impressive rise in prices (+153.5%). The purchasing power of Latvians increased by 190.9%.

In Greece, wages are indeed higher (+26.5%) compared to 2000, but the rise in prices by 54.7% has emptied the wallets of citizens. In fact, over the three-year period 2019-2022, we have the second highest wage growth in Europe. The situation is worse in Malta with -2.4%, followed by Greece with +1.7% and Spain with +3.8%.

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