Greece's trade gap rose significantly to EUR 2.186 billion in May 2019 from EUR 1.402 billion in the same month of the previous year. It was the largest trade deficit since January, as imports surged 20.1 percent to EUR 5.231 billion, boosted by purchases from countries outside the EU (34.7 percent) and the EU (8.3 percent). Meanwhile, exports rose at a slower 3 percent to EUR 3.045 billion, as higher sales to the EU (14.4 percent) were partly offset by lower ones to countries outside the EU (-8.2 percent). Considering the first five months of the year, the trade deficit widened to EUR 9.421 billion from EUR 8.086 billion in the same period of 2018, with imports and exports advancing 8.9 percent and 4.4 percent, respectively. Balance of Trade in Greece averaged -2204.35 EUR Million from 2001 until 2019, reaching an all time high of -619.80 EUR Million in July of 2015 and a record low of -4328.60 EUR Million in March of 2007.
Balance of Trade in Greece is expected to be -1400.00 EUR Million by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Balance of Trade in Greece to stand at -2100.00 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the Greece Balance of Trade is projected to trend around -1510.00 EUR Million in 2020, according to our econometric models.