Greece’s Top 100 Imported Consumer Products by Sales

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Greece’s top 100 most valuable consumer products imported during 2020 generated a subtotal US$23.5 billion worth of international sales. That consumer-generated dollar amount represents 42.3% of the overall value of all goods imported into Greece–an overall $55.5 billion worth of spending.

Formally the Hellenic Republic, Greece benefits from its strategic location in Southeastern Europe near the continental confluences of Europe, Asia and Africa.

Greece’s populated by about 10.7 million residents making it the European Union’s ninth-biggest member ahead of the Czech Republic, Sweden and Portugal. Boasting the longest coastline along the Mediterranean Basin and the world’s 11th-longest coastline, Greece shares land borders with Turkey to its northeast, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to its north, and Albania to its northwest.

The country’s official language is Greek. However, over one half (51%) of Greece’s population can communicate in English–the world’s pre-eminent business language.

As revealed by total sales, the 5 most valuable consumer products imported into Greece during 2020 were cars, automobile parts or accessories, phones, medications and computers.

The total dollar amount for the top 100 imported consumer products from Greece slipped by -11.2% from 2019 to 2020. That top 100 consumer metric is more severe than the -10.7% slippage for all of Greece’s imported goods for the year.

Greece’s purchases of imported products, both overall and for consumer goods, fell more than the global average decline of -8.2% from 2019 to 2020 for all importing countries.

Among the top 100 consumer products imported by Greece, 36 increased in total value from 2019 to 2020 whereas 64 declined.

Changes in Greek consumer demand for essential imports offer future opportunities for international suppliers who correctly anticipate which upward or downward trends will continue.

Consumer Products Defined

Economics educator BoyceWire defines a consumer product as a final good or end product that a business creates for consumers to buy. For example, consumers often purchase refined petroleum oil at the gas station while imported crude oil is an intermediate good subject to further processing before being sold to end users.

Although there may be a few wealthy individual buyers, products like turbojets are excluded from the consumer products targeted by this study. That is because turbojets are usually purchased by corporations. In contrast, it is common for a consumer to buy a motorcycle.

Types of Consumer Products

This article focuses on 3 distinct consumer product types.

Convenience Products are easy to access, non-durable, have relatively lower prices and therefore consumers frequently purchase them. Examples of convenience products are food, alcoholic or non-alcoholic drinks, and soap.

Shopping Products are not as easily available, involve more time to make a buying decision, are durable and are not bought as often as most convenience products. A great example of a shopping product is a mobile phone where buying the wrong model is a much more expensive mistake than buying a disappointing loaf of bread.

Speciality Products describe another consumer product type. This grey area includes infrequently purchased, expensive, durable and sometimes rare items. Consumers may consider the product’s brand image when making their purchase decisions. Some examples of speciality products are gold, silver, diamonds, jewelry, and branded refrigerators and dishwashers.

Greece’s Most Valuable Imported Convenience Products

The list below showcases the most valuable imported convenience products on which buyers in Greece spent the most. Items were selected at the four-digit Harmonized System tariff classification code level and are presented in descending order.

You can also peruse the greatest increases or decreases in product values from 2019 to 2020 by focusing on the percentages displayed to the right of each product name.

  1. Processed petroleum oils: US$2,735,125,000 (down -30.4%)
  2. Medications: $2,416,581,000 (up 11.9%)
  3. Petroleum gas: $774,879,000 (down -50.9%)
  4. Cheese, curd: $491,915,000 (down -5%)
  5. Fresh or chilled beef: $471,567,000 (down -1.2%)
  6. Swine meat: $458,803,000 (down -18.1%)
  7. Plastic packing goods, lids, caps: $236,103,000 (up 2.8%)
  8. Coffee: $232,364,000 (down -1.6%)
  9. Miscellaneous food preparations: $226,467,000 (up 3.8%)
  10. Other organic cleaning preparations: $221,374,000 (up 1.7%)
  11. Miscellaneous plastic items: $200,779,000 (up 8.6%)
  12. Concentrated/sweetened milk: $191,255,000 (up 16.6%)
  13. Bread, biscuits, cakes, pastries: $172,847,000 (up 4.2%)
  14. Corn: $155,620,000 (down -3.8%)
  15. Sugar (cane or beet): $154,708,000 (up 12.9%)
  16. Fish or meat flours, pellets: $152,088,000 (up 14.1%)
  17. Cigars/cigarellos, cigarettes: $141,419,000 (down -31.7%)
  18. Bananas, plantains: $139,647,000 (down -8%)
  19. Poultry meat: $138,826,000 (down -24.8%)
  20. Chocolate, other cocoa preparations: $126,605,000 (down -9.3%)
  21. Whole fish (fresh): $123,826,000 (down -14.4%)
  22. Soya beans: $112,312,000 (up 0.1%)
  23. Alcohol (including spirits, liqueurs): $101,530,000 (down -40.1%)
  24. Prepared cereal foods: $100,672,000 (up 5%)
  25. Miscellaneous nuts: $98,126,000 (down -6.1%)
  26. Moluscs: $97,718,000 (down -31.1%)
  27. Waters with added sugar: $96,888,000 (up 2.8%)
  28. Malt extract, food preparations: $96,135,000 (up 0.9%)
  29. Uncoated paper for writing/printing: $90,165,000 (down -25.2%)
  30. Sanitary towels, baby napkins/liners: $90,165,000 (up 14.7%)
  31. Unsweetened milk/cream: $83,122,000 (down -13.5%)
  32. Plastic wares (table, kitchen, toiletry): $76,023,000 (down -3%)
  33. Antibiotics: $73,370,000 (down -51.7%)
  34. Potatoes: $73,197,000 (down -34.3%)
  35. Ink: $68,599,000 (down -24.4%)
  36. Fish, caviar (preserved/prepared): $65,847,000 (down -1.8%)
  37. Pipe/chewing/snuff tobaccos: $65,510,000 (up 20.6%)
  38. Miscellaneous preserved fruits: $65,238,000 (up 7.5%)
  39. Palm oil: $63,156,000 (down -9.7%)

Convenience products led by the products listed above represent the European country’s most popular import product type attracting Greece’s international spending ahead of both shopping products and speciality goods.

Non-durable consumer products are goods that are not re-used once consumed. Alcoholic beverages and bananas are examples of non-durable goods. Convenience products are uniquely non-durable consumer products.

Greece’s Most Valuable Imported Shopping Products

Below, the list highlights the most valuable imported shopping products on which buyers in Greece spent the greatest amounts. Items were selected at the four-digit Harmonized System tariff classification code level and are presented from highest to lowest total amounts.

The percentages displayed to the right of each product name reveal the highest increases or decreases in Greek spending on that specific type of shopping product from 2019 to 2020.

  1. Cars: US$1,413,001,000 (down -18.8%)
  2. Computers, optical readers: $1,038,923,000 (up 5.8%)
  3. Phones: $916,769,000 (up 11.6%)
  4. Automobile parts/accessories: $408,639,000 (down -11.3%)
  5. Packaged insecticides, herbicides: $348,220,000 (up 21.5%)
  6. Hot-rolled iron/non-alloy steel items: $275,438,000 (down -18.6%)
  7. Rubber tires (new): $240,079,000 (down -7.8%)
  8. Insulated wire/cable: $232,146,000 (up 28.2%)
  9. Miscellaneous furniture: $211,315,000 (down -6.5%)
  10. Women’s clothing (not knit/crochet): $203,337,000 (down -30%)
  11. Electrical converters/power units: $194,250,000 (up 6.1%)
  12. Footwear (textile): $190,404,000 (down -21.9%)
  13. Cases, handbags, wallets: $190,276,000 (down -18.9%)
  14. Footwear (leather): $188,483,000 (down -17%)
  15. Footwear (rubber or plastic): $185,546,000 (down -22.9%)
  16. T-shirts, vests (knit or crochet): $181,231,000 (down -23.6%)
  17. Miscellaneous toys: $178,960,000 (down -13.7%)
  18. Trucks: $173,040,000 (down -12.7%)
  19. Miscellaneous textile items: $170,764,000 (up 438.7%)
  20. Printing machinery: $158,593,000 (down -9.6%)
  21. Orthopedic appliances: $156,950,000 (down -2%)
  22. Computer parts, accessories: $153,785,000 (up 16.4%)
  23. Yachts, canoes, row boats: $151,572,000 (up 34.9%)
  24. Women’s clothing (knit or crochet): $148,868,000 (down -30.1%)
  25. Jerseys, pullovers (knit or crochet): $144,365,000 (down -42.1%)
  26. Tractors: $138,346,000 (up 111.2%)
  27. Men’s suits (unknit/non-crochet): $134,866,000 (down -33.7%)
  28. Paper containers, cellulose wadding: $133,056,000 (down -0.5%)
  29. Lower-voltage switches, fuses: $133,010,000 (down -0.7%)
  30. Unrecorded sound media: $120,616,000 (up 8.3%)
  31. Motorcycles: $115,308,000 (down -1.4%)
  32. Paints, varnishes: $114,065,000 (up 9.3%)
  33. Seats (not barber/dentist chairs): $113,028,000 (down -11.6%)
  34. Glass bottles, other containers: $112,518,000 (up 3.9%)
  35. Vulcanized rubber apparel: $93,903,000 (up 150.8%)
  36. Microphones/headphones/amps: $87,893,000 (up 29%)
  37. Other pharmaceutical goods: $82,576,000 (up 9.6%)
  38. Stockings, hosiery (knit or crochet): $81,623,000 (down -10.3%)
  39. Linens: $80,634,000 (down -10.9%)
  40. Caps, lids, corks, pouring stoppers: $80,543,000 (up 10.8%)
  41. Hair preparations: $79,376,000 (down -12.6%)
  42. Video console games, table games: $78,217,000 (down -21.6%)
  43. Sports equipment: $76,410,000 (down -1.1%)
  44. Miscellaneous iron or steel items: $75,519,000 (down -11.6%)
  45. Shaving preparations, deodorants: $73,741,000 (down -2.4%)
  46. Men’s coats (unknit/non-crochet): $69,009,000 (down -31.2%)
  47. Wrist/pocket watches (regular case): $68,563,000 (down -26.5%)
  48. Soap, organic surface-active goods: $63,531,000 (up 25.2%)

Focusing on the scope of this analysis, shopping products is Greece’s second-most popular category behind convenience products but ahead of speciality items.

Shopping products approached half (48) of the overall top 100 Greek imported consumer goods.

Durable consumer products are goods like cars, refrigerators and furniture that last a relatively long time. Consumers can put durable products to use again and again. Note that shopping products and speciality products are considered as durable consumer products.

Greece’s Most Valuable Imported Speciality Products

Speciality products represent the category with the fewest entries among Greece’s imports that attracted the country’s spending on imported consumer goods during 2020.

Selected at the four-digit Harmonized System tariff classification code level, the most valuable speciality items are listed in descending order below.

The percentage to the right of each product name reveal highest increases or decreases in 2020 compared to 2019.

  1. Electric generating sets, converters: US$274,916,000 (down -17.9%)
  2. Air conditioners: $251,513,000 (down -5.7%)
  3. Beauty/makeup/skin care: $213,928,000 (down -9.6%)
  4. Refrigerators, freezers: $188,262,000 (down -9.4%)
  5. Electric water heaters, hair dryers: $178,125,000 (down -12.1%)
  6. Dishwash, clean/dry/fill machines: $157,178,000 (up 9.6%)
  7. Liquid pumps: $122,913,000 (down -1.5%)
  8. Electric storage batteries: $110,911,000 (up 3.2%)
  9. Fertilizer mixes: $110,139,000 (up 3.8%)
  10. Nitrogenous fertilizers: $98,915,000 (down -7.3%)
  11. Household base metal mountings: $89,974,000 (down -6.4%)
  12. Temperature-change machines: $78,210,000 (down -8.3%)
  13. Washing machines: $73,578,000 (down -13.8%)

Like shopping products, speciality products are considered as durable consumer products. Based on the product types identified in the sections above, 61 of Greece’s 100 highest-value consumer shopper plus speciality products are durable while the remaining 39 convenience products are classified as non-durable.

Greece’s Overall Fastest-Growing Consumer Imports

Listed below are the top 10 consumer products imported into Greece that experienced the highest percentage increases in spending from 2019 to 2020.

  1. Miscellaneous textile items: Up 438.7% ($170.8 million)
  2. Vulcanized rubber apparel: Up 150.8% ($93.9 million)
  3. Tractors: Up 111.2% ($138.3 million) 
  4. Yachts, canoes, row boats: Up 34.9% ($151.6 million)
  5. Microphones, headphones, amplifiers: Up 29% ($87.9 million)
  6. Insulated wire/cable: Up 28.2% ($232.1 million)
  7. Soap, organic surface-active goods: Up 25.2% ($63.5 million)
  8. Packaged insecticides, herbicides: Up 21.5% ($348.2 million)
  9. Pipe, chewing or snuff tobaccos: Up 20.6% ($65.5 million)
  10. Concentrated/sweetened milk: Up 16.6% ($191.3 million)

Among the above top 10 gainers, 8 qualify as durable goods that consumers can re-use over time. None of those durable items is a speciality product. The 8 fastest-growing shopping products are miscellaneous textile items, vulcanized rubber apparel, tractors, yachts, canoes and row boats, microphones, headphones or amplifiers, insulated wire or cable, organic surface-active goods including soap, and packaged insecticides or herbicides.

The fastest-growing duo of convenience products are pipe, chewing or snuff and concentrated or sweetened milk. Consumers consider these items as non-durable products, commonly referred to as disposable goods that normally are used only once.

Greece’s Overall Worst-Declining Consumer Imports

Spending by buyers in Greece on the following 10 items decreased in value at the severest rate from 2019 to 2020.

  1. Antibiotics: Down -51.7% ($73.4 million)
  2. Petroleum gas: Down -50.9% ($774.9 million)
  3. Jerseys, pullovers (knitted or crocheted): Down -42.1% ($144.4 million)
  4. Alcohol (including spirits, liqueurs): Down -40.1% ($101.5 million)
  5. Potatoes: Down -34.3% ($73.2 million)
  6. Men’s suits (unknit/non-crochet): Down -33.7% ($134.9 million)
  7. Cigars/cigarellos, cigarettes: Down -31.7% ($141.4 million)
  8. Men’s coats (unknit/non-crochet): Down -31.2% ($69 million)
  9. Moluscs: Down -31.1% ($97.7 million)
  10. Processed petroleum oils: Down -30.4% ($2.7 billion)

Seven among Greece’s top 10 declining imports are non-durable convenience products consumed one time. These include antibiotics, petroleum gas, alcohol including spirits and liqueurs, and potatoes.

Three among the remaining major import decliners are shopping products that normally require more time for consumers to make buying decisions. Purchases under the shopping products category are more likely to be deferred than convenience products. The fastest-growing shopping goods are knitted or crocheted jerseys or pullovers, unknitted and non-crocheted men’s suits, and unknitted and non-crocheted coats.

There was no speciality product among the severest decliners.

Key Suppliers by Country

This analysis reveals competitive suppliers that target Greek demand for its top 5 consumer import products.

For Greece, the biggest imported consumer product by value is processed petroleum oils. The 4 other leading consumer products imported into Greece are medications, cars, computers including optical readers, and phones including smartphones.

Below, you will find major supplying countries for Greece’s imported:

Refined petroleum oils: Russia (56% of total), Netherlands (8.6%), Egypt (6.1%), Israel (5.2%), Italy (3.8%), Spain (3.1%), Romania (2.8%), Turkey (2.7%), Bulgaria (1.7%), and Germany (1.3%).

Medications: Germany (29.3% of total), Italy (10.8%), France (9.6%), Belgium (9.2%), Netherlands (9.1%), Switzerland (6.7%), Ireland (5.5%), Spain (4.3%), Denmark (2.7%), and United Kingdom (2.6%).

Cars: Germany (36.9% of total), Spain (9.8%), United Kingdom (7.3%), France (7.1%), Turkey (6.5%), Czech Republic (5%), Italy (3.9%), Japan (3.8%), Hungary (3.4%), and Slovakia (3.1%).

Computers: China (56% of total), Netherlands (17%), Germany (7.2%), Czech Republic (4.3%), Poland (3.4%), United Kingdom (1.2%), Italy (1.1%), United States (1%), Vietnam (0.9%), and Hungary (also 0.9%).

Phone devices including smartphones: Netherlands (23.4% of total), China (17.1%), Vietnam (13.3%), Germany (9.4%), Sweden (5.2%), Czech Republic (4.3%), Poland (4%), United Kingdom (3.4%), Hungary (2.6%), and Bulgaria (2.3%).

See also

More great research: Greece’s Main Imports by Top Supplier Countries, Germany’s Main Imports by Top Supplier Countries, Netherlands Main Imports by Top Supplier Countries, China’s Top 100 Imported Consumer Products, US Top 100 Imported Consumer Products and Japan’s Top 100 Imported Consumer Products

References

Independent insights and analysis presented in this article are based on researched facts and statistics sourced from the following educational portals.

BoyceWire, Consumer Goods Definition.

Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook: Greece Economy.

International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Databases.

International Trade Centre, Trade Map.

Investopedia, Consumer Goods, Consumer Staples Definition, Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG).

Richest Country Reports, Top 100 Richest Countries by GDP.

Trading Economics, Greece Consumer Spending.

Wikipedia, List of largest consumer markets, Greece, Geography of Greece, Languages of Greece

World’s Top Exports, Greece’s Top 10 Imports.

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