Businesses lost €4.8 bln in Jan-Feb

The turnover of businesses in Greece fell by more than 1.8 billion euros in February compared to the same month in 2020, while the year-on-year drop in the first couple of months of this year came to €4.8 billion, according to figures released by the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) on Friday.

In fact, the blow to the market from the coronavirus pandemic was even greater, considering that the figures published only concerned larger companies that submit their value-added tax data every month, and not the smaller ones that do so every quarter.

Data showed that companies’ turnover came to €17.23 billion in February, against €19.05 billion a year earlier, thereby posting an annual decline of 9.6%. 

There was a dramatically higher reduction among the companies forced to lock down, amounting to 47.7%, as their turnover in February amounted to €582.88 million, from €1.115 billion in February 2020. 

In particular, the retail sector (that was shuttered in Attica and other regions) suffered a 30.5% drop, amounting to €150 million lost.