Greeks have become the second poorest in the EU after Bulgaria the Eurostat stated recently. The economic hit is nearly unprecedented in modern times, only comparable to the US Great Depression in the 1930s.
The shocking reality is felt each and every day by the majority of Greeks, despite the fact that the government reassures also each and every day that the economy is thriving.
Today, newspaper Financial Times took the issue under scrutiny and come to the result that:
The Greek economy is today about 19 per cent smaller than in 2007 while the EU economy as a whole has risen by 17 per cent.
Real wages, in Greece have been steadily declining and are down 30 per cent from their pre-financial crisis levels, leaving the country with one of the lowest average salaries among developed economies.
with information by @Nicholas_D
UK pensioners in Greece have taken a far bigger loss of earnings thanks to Brexit.
I’d love to know how you arrive at that conclusion? My UK pensions go up every year without fail while my Greek pension stayed at exactly the same level for 12 years. Not one cent increase. What’s more part of that Greek pension was cut by 40% from the amount awarded before I ever received it. My UK State Pension alone has gone up 54 % since 2016. I am much better off than my Greek counterparts.
It is true that the GBP/EUR exchange rate dropped from 1.4 to 1.1, i.e. 20 %, immediately after Brexit but currency fluctuations are a simple fact of life if your income is in one currency and your expenditure is in another. Between 2009 and 2016 it had gone up from 1.1 to 1.4 so really you just lost what you had won. In 2008 it dropped from 1.5 to 1.1. Between 2000 and 2003 it dropped from 1.7 to 1.4.
Brexit has had no other significant long term effect on my lifestyle. Obviously there was concern while the details of the withdrawal agreement were being negotiated, i.e. would we be forced to leave Greece. There was also a bit of bureaucratic hassle sorting out the Biometric Residence Cards but it wasn’t very difficult. Since then life has gone on as normal.
Thanks for that diligently researched data driven factoid from planet pensioner.
Post Brexit it’s certainly much more costly to buy (totally unnecessary) things like Yorkshire Tea, Oxo cubes and the like but your sentence doesn’t make sense – Pensioners are Retired so “loss of earnings” doesn’t come into it.