That dollar amount reflects a 46.5% increase since 2017 and a 34.3% acceleration from 2020 to 2021.
Based on the average exchange rate for 2021, Greece uses the euro which appreciated by 2% against the US dollar since 2017 and rose by 3.1% from 2020 to 2021. The stronger EU currency in 2021 made Greece’s exports paid for in weaker US dollars relatively more expensive for international buyers compared to 2020.
Greece’s 5 most valuable export products are refined petroleum oils, medication mixes in dosage, aluminum plates, sheets and strips, uncarded cotton, and fresh whole fish. Collectively, that leading quintet of products represents well over one third (37.7%) of total Greek shipments in 2021.
The latest available country-specific data shows that 57.6% of products exported from Greece were bought by importers in: Italy (9.9% of the global total), Germany (7.3%), Cyprus (6.4%), Turkey (5.1%), Bulgaria (4.9%), France (4.7%), United States of America (4%), Romania (3.5%), United Kingdom (3.3%), Spain (3%), Lebanon (2.9%) and Libya (2.5%).
From a continental perspective, 66% of Greece exports by value were delivered to European countries while 20.2% were sold to importers in Asia. Greece shipped another 6.8% worth of goods to Africa with 4.9% going to North America.
Tinier percentages were delivered to Latin America (1.1%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean and Oceania (1%) led by Australia and Marshall Islands.
Given Greece’s population of 10.7 million people, its total $47.1 billion in 2021 exports translates to roughly $4,400 for every resident in the southern European nation. That per-capita metric exceeds the average $3,300 for 2020.
Greece’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Greek global shipments during 2021. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Greece.
- Mineral fuels including oil: US$13.2 billion (28.1% of total exports)
- Pharmaceuticals: $3.4 billion (7.3%)
- Aluminum: $2.5 billion (5.4%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: $2.1 billion (4.5%)
- Machinery including computers: $2 billion (4.3%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: $1.9 billion (4%)
- Vegetable/fruit/nut preparations: $1.5 billion (3.1%)
- Fruits, nuts: $1.3 billion (2.8%)
- Copper: $1.1 billion (2.4%)
- Dairy, eggs, honey: $1.1 billion (2.3%)
Greece’s top 10 exports accounted for almost two-thirds (64.3%) of the overall value of its global shipments.
Mineral fuels including oil was the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 72.7% from 2020 to 2021 propelled by higher revenues from exported refined petroleum oils.
In second place for improving export sales was copper thanks to its 55.9% improvement.
Greece’s shipments of electrical machinery and equipment posted the third-fastest gain in value up by 55.3% year over year.
The most modest increase among Greece’s top 10 export categories belongs to pharmaceuticals (up 4.3%).
Note that the results listed above are at the categorized two-digit Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) code level. For a more granular view of exported goods at the four-digit HTS code level, see the section Searchable List of Greece’s Most Valuable Export Products further down below.
Products Creating the Greatest Trade Surpluses for Greece
The following types of Greek product shipments represent positive net exports or a trade balance surplus. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports.
In a nutshell, net exports represent the amount by which foreign spending on a home country’s goods or services exceeds or lags the home country’s spending on foreign goods or services.
- Vegetable/fruit/nut preparations: US$1.1 billion (Up by 7% since 2020)
- Aluminum: $969.1 million (Up by 16.1%)
- Fruits, nuts: $867.2 million (Up by 0.5%)
- Cotton: $737.4 million (Up by 77.6%)
- Salt, sulphur, stone, cement: $499.7 million (Up by 27.2%)
- Animal/vegetable fats, oils, waxes: $428.3 million (Up by 14.5%)
- Fish: $388.5 million (Down by -5.5%)
- Tobacco, manufactured substitutes: $356.3 million (Up by 17.9%)
- Stone, plaster, cement, asbestos: $175.7 million (Up by 22.2%)
- Ores, slag, ash: $103 million (Up by 1.3%)
Greece has highly positive net exports in the international trade of vegetable, fruit or nut preparations. In turn, these cashflows indicate Greece’s strong competitive advantages under the food preparations product category.
Products Causing the Biggest Trade Deficits for Greece
Overall Greece incurred a -$28.7 billion trade deficit during 2021, a 40.2% increase from the -$20.5 billion in red ink for 2020.
Below are exports from Greece that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Greece’s goods trail Greek importer spending on foreign products.
- Mineral fuels including oil: -US$6.7 billion (Up by 98.9% since 2020)
- Machinery including computers: -$3.6 billion (Up by 54.2%)
- Vehicles: -$3.2 billion (Up by 42%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$3 billion (Up by 27%)
- Organic chemicals: -$2.8 billion (Down by -13.8%)
- Meat: -$1.2 billion (Up by 11.8%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: -$1.1 billion (Up by 54%)
- Optical, technical, medical apparatus: -$1 billion (Up by 29%)
- Pharmaceuticals: -$853 million (Up by 225.8%)
- Paper, paper items: -$844.3 million (Up by 21.9%)
Greece has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits under the mineral fuels including oil subcategory, notably for crude petroleum oil.
These cashflow deficiencies clearly indicate Greece’s competitive disadvantages in the international mineral fuels market, but also represent key opportunities for Greece to improve its position in the global economy through focused innovations in alternative energy resources.
Major Greek Export Companies
Based on Forbes Global 2000 rankings, here are examples of large international trade players headquartered in Greece.
- Hellenic Petroleum (refined oil, gas)
- Hellenic Telecom Organization (telecommunications)
- Motor Oil Hellas (oil, gas)
Global trade intelligence firm Zepol also mentions the following companies as examples of Greek exporters.
- Inomessiniak (wine, olive oil)
- Interoliva (olives, glass bottles and jars)
- Promelk (t-shirts, brassieres, sweaters)
- St Agelopoulo (olives, live carp)
- Tsalma Marble Of Central North Greece (monument/building stone, wood boxes/cases/crates)
Searchable List of Greece’s Most Valuable Export Products
The following searchable table displays 100 of the most in-demand goods shipped from Greece during 2021. Shown beside each product label is its total export value then the percentage increase or decrease since 2020.
| Rank | Greece's Export Product | 2021 Value (US$) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Processed petroleum oils | $12,011,899,000 | +73.1% |
| 2 | Medication mixes in dosage | $3,279,842,000 | +3% |
| 3 | Aluminum plates, sheets, strips | $929,156,000 | +38.8% |
| 4 | Cotton (uncarded, uncombed) | $797,427,000 | +76.9% |
| 5 | Whole fish (fresh) | $741,861,000 | +16% |
| 6 | Copper tubes, pipes | $735,499,000 | +40% |
| 7 | Cheese, curd | $716,284,000 | +18.8% |
| 8 | Olive oil | $673,375,000 | +19.7% |
| 9 | Other prepared/preserved vegetables (non-frozen) | $663,350,000 | +9.8% |
| 10 | Aluminum bars/rods | $608,343,000 | +45.7% |
| 11 | Computers, optical readers | $587,074,000 | -14.8% |
| 12 | Insulated wire/cable | $539,417,000 | +61.1% |
| 13 | Petroleum oil residues | $489,727,000 | +22.9% |
| 14 | Miscellaneous preserved fruits | $463,887,000 | +4.3% |
| 15 | Coiled iron or non-alloy steel bars, rods | $441,876,000 | +103.7% |
| 16 | Aluminum foil (thin) | $423,287,000 | +15.6% |
| 17 | Petroleum gases | $416,246,000 | +85.8% |
| 18 | Miscellaneous fruits (fresh) | $384,068,000 | +28.8% |
| 19 | Aluminum (unwrought) | $336,671,000 | +45.7% |
| 20 | Other food preparations | $333,606,000 | +6.1% |
| 21 | Cigars/cigarellos, cigarettes | $333,315,000 | +30% |
| 22 | Propylene/olefin polymers | $327,841,000 | +57.7% |
| 23 | Plastic plates, sheets, film, tape, strips | $304,046,000 | +48.4% |
| 24 | Electric storage batteries | $291,425,000 | +69.4% |
| 25 | Fresh or dried citrus fruit | $288,602,000 | +4.8% |
| 26 | Phone devices including smartphones | $282,066,000 | +26.7% |
| 27 | Buttermilk, curdled cream/milk, yogurt | $274,962,000 | +15.3% |
| 28 | Models, puzzles, miscellaneous toys | $260,376,000 | +4.6% |
| 29 | Electrical energy | $256,770,000 | +312.7% |
| 30 | Calcareous monument or building stone | $252,000,000 | +32.4% |
| 31 | Unmanufactured tobacco, tobacco waste | $234,727,000 | +26% |
| 32 | Beauty/makeup/skin care preparations | $209,766,000 | +16.4% |
| 33 | Wheat | $208,473,000 | +133.7% |
| 34 | Hydraulic cements | $205,530,000 | +13.6% |
| 35 | Monument/building stones, art | $192,873,000 | +24.6% |
| 36 | Gas/liquid/electricity/production meters | $191,968,000 | +22% |
| 37 | Centrifuges, filters and purifiers | $190,571,000 | +14.9% |
| 38 | Iron or non-alloy steel bars, rods | $186,962,000 | +36.5% |
| 39 | Bread, biscuits, cakes, pastries | $181,369,000 | +30.3% |
| 40 | Pipe/chewing/snuff tobaccos | $176,555,000 | -4.8% |
| 41 | Microphones/headphones/amps | $167,272,000 | +150.3% |
| 42 | Piston engine parts | $166,891,000 | +16.7% |
| 43 | Miscellaneous iron or steel tubes, pipes | $163,219,000 | +39.2% |
| 44 | Plastic plates, sheets, film, tape, strips | $161,787,000 | +21.6% |
| 45 | Flour/meal/starch/malt extract food preparations | $161,132,000 | +9.6% |
| 46 | Packaged insecticides/fungicides/herbicides | $160,658,000 | +4% |
| 47 | Aluminum oxide/hydroxide | $158,720,000 | +18.6% |
| 48 | Styrene polymers | $158,410,000 | +97.8% |
| 49 | Other organic cleaning preparations | $157,632,000 | +21.6% |
| 50 | Miscellaneous iron and steel structures | $151,329,000 | +17.5% |
| 51 | Plastic packing goods, lids, caps | $150,257,000 | -3.4% |
| 52 | Apricots, cherries, peaches, nectarines, plums | $138,593,000 | -37.6% |
| 53 | Plastic tableware, kitchenware, toiletry | $138,031,000 | +10.2% |
| 54 | Women's clothing (knit or crochet) | $134,920,000 | +15.5% |
| 55 | Paper containers, cellulose wadding | $131,516,000 | +121.3% |
| 56 | Copper waste, scrap | $128,366,000 | +103.5% |
| 57 | Copper wire | $127,271,000 | +105.9% |
| 58 | Grapes (fresh or dried) | $125,016,000 | -17.2% |
| 59 | Sanitary towels, baby napkins/liners | $124,262,000 | +1.3% |
| 60 | Fertilizer mixes | $120,847,000 | +8.8% |
| 61 | Knit or crochet women's blouses, shirts | $119,739,000 | +8.8% |
| 62 | Paint/varnish non-aqueous solution | $119,723,000 | +10.5% |
| 63 | Lower-voltage switches, fuses | $118,159,000 | +56.2% |
| 64 | Automobile parts/accessories | $116,232,000 | +41.5% |
| 65 | Vinegar preserved vegetables, fruits, nuts | $115,230,000 | +3.2% |
| 66 | Unrecorded sound media | $110,005,000 | +34.8% |
| 67 | Synthetic yarn woven fabrics | $107,927,000 | +78.9% |
| 68 | Alcohol (including spirits, liqueurs) | $102,295,000 | +14% |
| 69 | T-shirts, vests (knit or crochet) | $101,511,000 | +44.5% |
| 70 | Wine | $100,227,000 | +24.2% |
| 71 | Lifting/loading machinery | $100,174,000 | -0.1% |
| 72 | Temperature-change machines | $99,708,000 | +39.4% |
| 73 | Polyacetal/ether/carbonates | $99,056,000 | +76.4% |
| 74 | Miscellaneous furniture | $98,105,000 | +30% |
| 75 | Miscellaneous plastic items | $97,028,000 | +62.4% |
| 76 | Yachts, other pleasure/sports vessels | $94,907,000 | +101.3% |
| 77 | Lamps, lighting, illuminated signs | $94,655,000 | +52.4% |
| 78 | Coated/laminated non-wovens | $94,561,000 | +21.3% |
| 79 | Synthetic organic coloring | $92,060,000 | +28.8% |
| 80 | Miscellaneous fresh/chilled vegetables | $90,613,000 | +18.8% |
| 81 | Machinery parts | $89,220,000 | +23% |
| 82 | Self-adhesive plastic in rolls | $88,033,000 | +42.4% |
| 83 | Copper bars, rods | $86,609,000 | +120.9% |
| 84 | Bridge structures, parts | $86,084,000 | +36.7% |
| 85 | Footwear (rubber or plastic) | $85,908,000 | -2.7% |
| 86 | Women's clothing (not knit or crochet) | $84,624,000 | +40.1% |
| 87 | Iron and steel tubes, pipes | $83,647,000 | -71.6% |
| 88 | Paper/paperboard waste, scrap | $83,471,000 | +105.2% |
| 89 | Spray/dispersing mechanical appliances | $82,835,000 | +23.6% |
| 90 | Tomatoes (prepared/preserved) | $82,156,000 | +26.3% |
| 91 | Precious metal ores, concentrates | $81,799,000 | -12.2% |
| 92 | Carbon/natural mineral products | $81,427,000 | +20.6% |
| 93 | Organic surface-active goods, soap | $80,984,000 | +29.5% |
| 94 | Footwear (textile) | $80,801,000 | +44.2% |
| 95 | Iron or steel scrap | $80,726,000 | +215.7% |
| 96 | Oil seeds | $80,176,000 | +4% |
| 97 | Liquid crystal/laser/optical tools | $80,077,000 | +40% |
| 98 | Jams, fruit jellies, marmalades, pastes | $79,461,000 | +39.5% |
| 99 | Electro-medical equip (e.g. xrays) | $78,988,000 | +4.5% |
| 100 | Frozen fruits, nuts | $78,623,000 | +50% |
These 100 exported goods were worth a subtotal of US$36.7 billion or 77.9% by value for all products exported from Greece during 2021.
In macroeconomic terms, Greece’s total exported goods represent 13.9% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2021 ($339.7 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 13.9% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2021 compares to 11.3% one year earlier. Those percentages suggest a relatively increasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Greece’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.
Another key indicator of a country’s economic performance is its unemployment rate. Greece’s unemployment rate was 15.839% in October 2021, down from an average 16.4% for 2020 according to the International Monetary Fund.
Greece’s capital city is Athens.
See also Greece’s Top 10 Imports, Greece’s Top Trading Partners, italy’s Top 10 Exports and Top EU Export Countries
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook: Country Profiles. Accessed on March 28, 2022
Forbes 2017 Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on March 28, 2022
International Monetary Fund, Exchange Rates selected indicators (Domestic Currency per U.S. dollar, period average). Accessed on March 28, 2022
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on March 28, 2022
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on March 28, 2022
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on March 28, 2022
Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on March 28, 2022
Wikipedia, List of Companies of Greece. Accessed on March 28, 2022
Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on March 28, 2022
Zepol’s company summary highlights by country. Accessed on March 28, 2022
