Industry
Between 2005 and 2011, Greece has had the highest percentage increase in industrial output compared to 2005 levels out of all 27 European Union members, with an increase of 6%. Eurostat statistics show that the industrial sector was hit by the Greek financial crisis throughout 2009 and 2010, with domestic output decreasing by 5.8% and industrial production in general by 13.4%. Currently, Greece is ranked third in the European Union in the production of marble (over 920,000 tons) after Italy and Spain.
Between 1999 and 2008, the volume of retail trade in Greece increased by an average of 4.4% per annum (a total increase of 44%), while it decreased by 11.3% in 2009. The only sector that did not see negative growth in 2009 was administration and services, with a marginal growth of 2.0%.
In 2009, Greece's labor productivity was 98% that of the EU average, but its productivity-per-hour-worked was 74% that the Eurozone average. The largest industrial employer in the country (in 2007) was the manufacturing industry (407,000 people), followed by the construction industry (305,000) and mining (14,000).
| Rank | Production | Rank | Production | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Industry | Value | Industry | Value | ||
| 1 | Portland cement | €897,378,450 | 6 | Cigarettes | €480,399,323 |
| 2 | Pharmaceuticals | €621,788,464 | 7 | Beer | €432,559,943 |
| 3 | Ready-mix concrete | €523,821,763 | 8 | Dairy | €418,527,007 |
| 4 | Beverages (non-alcoholic) | €519,888,468 | 9 | Aluminium slabs | €391,393,930 |
| 5 | Rebars | €499,789,102 | 10 | Coca-Cola products | €388,752,443 |
| – | Total production value: €20,310,940,279 | ||||
Read more about this topic: Economy Of Greece
Famous quotes containing the word industry:
“What more is necessary to make us a happy and prosperous people? Still one thing more … a wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from labor the bread it has earned.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“Change of fashion is the tax levied by the industry of the poor on the vanity of the rich.”
—Sébastien-Roch Nicolas De Chamfort (1741–1794)
“My plan of instruction is extremely simple and limited. They learn, on week-days, such coarse works as may fit them for servants. I allow of no writing for the poor. My object is not to make fanatics, but to train up the lower classes in habits of industry and piety.”
—Hannah More (1745–1833)