Greece hailed again as global economic 'country of the year'

Greece led The Economist's annual ranking of rich-world economies in 2023.

The study gathers data on five indicators: "core" inflation - which excludes volatile components such as energy and food; GDP; employment, and stock market performance for 35 global mostly rich countries.

For the second year in a row, Greece has achieved remarkable results. With a GDP growth rate at 1.2%, Greece stands out among other countries for its sharp growth in the real value of the stock market, which rose by 43.8% from 2022 to 2023. 

According to The Economist, investors have re-evaluated Greek companies due to the government's implementation of a set of pro-market reforms.

Greece expects to receive more than €55 bn from EU structural and recovery funds by 2027, which economists estimate will contribute one percentage point in growth annually. Investment is seen growing by about 15.1% in 2024 more than double compared with last year.

The country has yet to return to the more flourishing economy of the early 2010s; however, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has clearly highlighted the improvements.

"Greece’s economic outlook has improved notably with real GDP expanding beyond its pre-pandemic trend level," an IMF statement reads.

"The banking system has remained resilient with improving balance sheets," it says,  praising digitalization introduced as a result of the pandemic that "shielded substantially productivity and hours worked during the crisis."

The rest of Europe

The same study highlighted a less than thriving situation in the rest of Europe.

Hungary is experiencing an 11% year-on-year core inflation rate. Finland, heavily reliant on Russian energy supplies, is also facing difficulties. 

France, Germany and Spain are encountering their