The Bank of Greece (BoG) Governor, Yannis Stournaras, expressed concern over productivity in the Greek market during an event organized by the country’s central bank and the European Investment Bank (EIB), themed “Innovation and Competitiveness.”

Citing data from the European Commission, the head of the Bank of Greece underscored the need to achieve higher productivity to maintain the standard of living.

“According to the latest data from the European Commission, the average productivity per hour worked in Greece stands at just 56.2% of the European average (in purchasing power units),” said Yannis Stournaras.

Stournaras noted that this phenomenon was largely a consequence of the economic crisis in 2010, during which a significant investment gap was created and the economy lost valuable working-age labor. He added, however, that even before the crisis, the productivity of the Greek economy lagged behind the European average. “This persistent shortfall is the result of a range of factors, including, among others, the relatively low skill level of the workforce (despite a satisfactory level of education), the poor matching of employees’ skills to the demands of their jobs, and the inadequate performance of Greek businesses in management practices,” the central banker underlined.

Stournaras commented that focusing on low-productivity and low-value-added activities is nothing new. A recent study by economists at the Bank of Greece, in collaboration with the Hellenic Observatory at LSE, showed that—taking the technological level of Greek exports in 2008 as the baseline for their calculations—the growth of the Greek economy over the medium to long term was projected to be low compared to Europe.