More specifically:
In 2008 (3rd quarter) employment in trade
reached a historic high, with more than 830,000
people. Commercial enterprises employed
146,000 more people than in 1998.
However, in the past four-years the sector lost
166,000 jobs, and employment fell below 1998
levels (almost 20,000 fewer employed persons in
the 3rd quarter of 2012, as compared to the same
quarter of 1998).
Out of a total of 166,000 jobs lost during the past
four-years, 56,000 were lost in 2011 and 80,000
in 2012, highlighting the –exponentially– increas-
ing financial distress of commercial enterprises,
which have to face the consumers’ prolonged
abstention from purchases, the effects of over-
taxation and the lack of liquidity and funding.
The data from ELSTAT’s Labour Force Survey for
the 3rd quarter of 2012 reveal that:
● Employment in trade fell by 10.8% year-on-year.
● The number of employers in the sector was
reduced by 15.7% during the same period.
● The number of self-employed merchants in the
sector fell by 3.6%.
● The number of employees was reduced by
10.4%.
As a result of the above, trade accounted for
17.8% of total employment in the 3rd quarter of
2012, as compared to 18.3% in Q3 2011; that
said, retail and wholesale trade remains by far the
most important sector in terms of employment.
Agriculture is in second place with a share of
13.1% (491,500 people, or 173,000 fewer than
trade), followed by manufacturing (9.5%), public
administration and defence (8.8%), education
(7.7%) etc.
According to industry estimates, almost 120,000
commercial enterprises had to shut down during
the past three years, and it is currently estimated
that the number of businesses that continue to
operate is slightly above 200,000, as compared to
324,000 in 2009.
There is no doubt that 2013 will be another very
tough year for the Greek economy, which has
been mired in recession since 2008. “A recession
of such intensity and duration”, stresses the Bank
of Greece in its interim report, “is historically
unprecedented in peacetime as far as the Greek
Trade with Greece
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