New Warning for Greek Fuel Exports

A significant decline has been recorded in Greece’s exports, according to ELSTAT data for April 2025, continuing a trend that is becoming a problem for Greece. The total value of exports in April 2025 reached 3.83 billion euros, showing a 14.5% decrease compared to the same month in 2024. However, when fuels are excluded, the reduction is limited to 2.7%, indicating that the main cause of the drop is the decrease in fuel exports. Conversely, during the January–April 2025 period, fuel exports fell by 5.1% compared to the same period last year, while non-fuel exports increased by 4.9%. The issue isn’t just how the reduction in fuel exports negatively affects the country’s trade balance but also that Greece appears to be losing a key source of income, as its refined oil products become vulnerable to international market fluctuations and global economic conditions. The decline in demand for Greek fuels reflects global energy market trends, where increased supply due to OPEC+ decisions and reduced demand from slowing economies have led to lower oil prices. This directly impacts Greece’s oil exports, which constitute a significant portion of the country’s total exports and are also affected by the strengthening euro against the dollar, making Greek fuels less competitive internationally. It is noteworthy that Greece, despite not being an oil-producing country, consistently ranks among the top 20 exporting countries for oil products due to its refineries’ operations. Over the past decade, fuels have been among the leading goods sold abroad. These developments require the attention of the Greek government, as a crucial sector of the country’s production is at risk, along with the critical issue of the trade deficit if no solution is found. Moreover, this evolution underscores the need for diversification of Greece’s export base and strengthening other sectors with export potential to reduce dependence on fuel exports and enhance the resilience of the Greek economy to international energy market fluctuations, which are expected to remain intense and continuous due to geopolitical, trade, and other disturbances.