The Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) announced on Thursday that the Gross Domestic Product for the 1st quarter of 2011 at constant prices 2000 decreased by 5.5 % in comparison with the 1st quarter of 2010 and increased by 0.2 % in comparison with the 4th quarter of 2010, according to available seasonally adjusted data.
Total final consumption expenditure recorded a decrease of 6.9% in comparison with the 1st quarter of 2010, while gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) decreased by 19.2% in comparison with the 1st quarter of 2010.
External trade deficit decreased by 40.7%, contributing positively to the GDP percent change.
Exports decreased by 2.0% in comparison with the 1st quarter of 2010. Exports of goods increased by 6.5% while exports of services decreased by 8.3%.
Imports decreased by 15.5% in comparison with the 1st quarter of 2010. Imports of goods decreased by 16.4% and imports of services by 12.0%.
As already reported, the methods of compiling quarterly data for General Government transactions for 2009-2011 have been changed compared with those used for the period 2000-2008. Quarterly estimates for the years 2009-2011 are made with data mainly from direct sources, while for the period 2000-2008 estimates were made by allocating the annual results to the quarters. This affects the comparability of the 2008 and 2009 data, and thus the quarterly rate of change of GDP between these two years reported here should be treated with caution.
It should be noted that estimates of government expenditure data for the 1st quarter of 2011 are highly preliminary and are subject to revision.
Due to the break in the time series of quarterly General Government data, and as the data compiled using the new method was only available for a very short period (Q12009-Q12011), the previously implemented method for the seasonal adjustment did not provide satisfactory results. To address the problem, ELSTAT in consultation with Eurostat, has applied a new method of seasonal adjustment, which allows for seasonal breaks and is deemed to provide more reliable results. Nevertheless, data users should continue to use caution in using these results until a longer time series is established.
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