The facts about Greece*

Government at a Glance 2015 offers a dashboard of key indicators to help analyze international comparisons of public sector performance. Given the timing of the release, it seems appropriate to focus this powerful tool on Greece to gain a balanced understanding of Greece’s challenges—and strengths.

Budget balance. While a large number of OECD countries were running primary fiscal deficits, Greece ran a budget surplus of 0.4% of GDP in 2014. If interest payments on the public debt are taken into account, Greece recorded an overall budget deficit of 3.5% of GDP in 2014.

Public spending. Public expenditures dropped considerably since 2009 both in per capita terms and as a share of GDP. In 2014, the Greek government spent annually USD 12,942 per capita (on a purchasing power parity basis) which is about USD 3,700 below the level of per capita public spending in 2009 (USD 16,643). As a share of GDP, general government spending decreased by 4.7 percentage points between 2009 and 2014, from 54.0% of GDP to 49.3%, among the highest decrease over the period.

Public debt. According to the Systems of National Accounts definition, government debt reached 181% of GDP in 2014. This is much higher than the OECD average of 109% of GDP for the latest year available.

Old age pensions accounted for 14.4% of GDP in 2013 or about three quarters of social protection spending which is the highest share among OECD countries.

Structure of government expenditures by selected function: social protection, 2013

Sources: OECD National Accounts Statistics (database); Eurostat Government finance statistics (database). Data for the OECD non-European countries (apart from Japan) and for Turkey are not available. Iceland and Spain: 2012

Public sector employment. Between 2009 and 2013, public sector employment decreased by 2.4 percentage points from 19.9% to 17.5% of the total labour force. This is the highest decrease in public sector employment across OECD countries for which data are available. Recent public employment reforms include recruitment freezes, non- or partial replacement of retiring staff, pay freezes and reduction or elimination of allowances in the public sector.

Public procurement. Greece has among the lowest public procurement expenditure in relation to GDP (9.8%). Beyond value for money, countries can use procurement to achieve environmental sustainability, support SMEs and innovation in goods and services. However, more needs to be done to monitor the performance and results of public procurement against the intended objectives, for instance in the area of environmental sustainability.

Citizen satisfaction. Measured through perception-based surveys, satisfaction with institutions and services is low and decreasing, especially for healthcare. In addition, citizen satisfaction with the education system (45%) is below OECD levels (67% in 2014) and confidence in the judicial system has decreased since 2007 to 44% in 2014 which is below the OECD average (54%).

Healthcare needs. More than 16% of low-income individuals reported having some unmet care needs for financial or other reasons in 2013. This is among the highest share across OECD countries.

Government at a Glance 2015 identifies progress and persisting challenges in public sector reform and highlights areas where public sector efficiency might be further improved. It helps countries measure their own achievements in a comparative perspective, showing trends across countries and over time. With this information, countries can benchmark their actions and achievements and better explore the link between governance practices and performance.

*OECD INSIGHTS Blog