A decrease – albeit marginal – in the revenues of the country’s large commercial companies was recorded by the Greek Statistical Authority for the month of May, as a result of which concerns are being raised as to whether accuracy is beginning to affect the overall course of consumption, as well as GDP developments.
The total revenue of wholesale and retail trade companies – which also includes the activity of repairing motor vehicles and motorcycles – was 11.2 billion euros in May, registering a marginal drop of 0.4% compared to May 2023, the month in which total revenue amounted to 11.252 billion euros.
The Hellenic Statistical Authority figures are collected from VAT returns submitted by companies that keep ledgers, which is why they are considered to portray in great detail the overall course of turnover, at least the “visible” one.
The turnover of the commercial sector in particular is particularly interesting, as it provides an initial insight into the evolution of consumption.
One would expect that the price increase prevailing this year compared to last year would also lead to an increase in turnover, which is clearly affected by the price level. This is not the case for May and it remains to be seen whether this is a “harbinger” of restrictions.
and total private consumption.
The core”
Consumption, even if interest has been focused on the course of investments and exports, still constitutes the “core” of economic activity in Greece, with a share of GDP that is close to 70%, without taking into account the contribution – also in double digits – of public consumption.
We will have a complete picture of the evolution of private consumption (but also, in general, of the evolution of GDP in the second quarter) at the beginning of September.
However, yesterday’s announcement by ELSTAT on revenue developments and the announcement the day before yesterday by the Ministry of Finance on revenue developments
of tax revenues in June (in this particular month we reached the targets and there was not the usual excess of tax revenues mainly from VAT) heighten concerns about a forthcoming “freeze” in the consumption growth rate.
Overall, the turnover of companies practicing double-entry accounting showed a slight increase of 1.5% in May compared to the same month last year. It stood at €30.839 billion, compared to €30.395 billion in May 2023.
April was clearly a better month, with total revenues of €32.44 billion.
Thus, this year the following phenomenon was recorded: there was a decrease in revenue in May compared to April, whereas last year May was much better than April, with a total revenue of 30.39 billion euros, compared to 27.9 billion euros in April.
By sector
The largest increase in turnover, in May 2024 compared to May 2023, was presented by companies in the Accommodation and Catering sector, at 14.8%, while the largest decrease was presented by companies in the Services sector.
Electricity, Natural Gas, Steam and Air Conditioning, 9.8%.
Revenues from the Accommodation and Food Services sector exceeded the one billion euro mark this year and amounted to 1,054
billion, compared to 918 million euros last year, hence the rate of 14.8%.
Of course, the fact that this year Easter fell in May also contributed to this increase.
In any case, this is a significant double-digit change, which once again reinforces the indications for a very good trajectory for tourism this year, possibly even reaching a new historical high.
On the other hand, the decrease in turnover in electricity and natural gas companies results from the reduction in retail prices in
compared to last year, which was the case until June.
Thus, revenue in May (the month in which we had low electricity prices) amounted to 1.9025 billion, compared to 2.135 billion last year.
However, it is now very likely, especially in July and August, that we will see the increased amounts of previous years again (the
April 2023 we had a turnover of 2.78 billion).
The manufacturing sector closed with an increase in revenue in May to 7.4 billion, compared to 7.25 billion last year.
In Transport and Storage, we had revenues of 1.67 billion, a marginal variation of 0.9% compared to last year, while in Information and Communication revenues amounted to 1.12 billion, against 1.087 billion last year, with a growth rate of 3.2%. (