Greece has managed to significantly reduce the gap in the trade balance of agricultural products and food over the last six years, as revealed by provisional data from the Ministry of Rural Development (supplied by the National Statistical Authority). To be precise, while in 2009 the country's agricultural deficit stood at -2.4 billion Euro, it has been gradually decreasing and has now fallen to just about -0.5 billion.
This is due, in part, to the decrease in imports of agricultural products because of the economic crisis, but also to the increase in exports of agricultural products, as it appears that producers have sought other markets outside Greece for the sale of their products.
In fact, Greek exports of agricultural products have largely shifted towards the European market due to difficulties in third countries, like the Russian embargo, as Russia had been one of the main markets for Greek agricultural products for decades. However, the European market is demanding better quality and hence more expensive products, thus giving a boost to the value of Greek agricultural products.
Exports have been steadily rising for the past six years, at a rate of 7.6% per year. The most important factor causing a deficit is the import of meat and dairy products, in which Greece spends EUR 1.2 billion per year. This percentage barely fluctuates from year to year; however, Greece's balance for fruit and vegetables has increased significantly.
In 2009, the trade balance for fruit and vegetables was positive at € 645 million, but in 2016 it exceeded € 1.2 billion in value.
In 2016, shipments of basic Greek export products reached a value of 1.569 billion Euro, according to data from the Greek Exporters' Association, with vegetables accounting for 405.3 million Euro and fruit for 489.3 million Euro.
Source: kathimerini.gr