The above results from the Annual Report of Greek Trade 2023 which was presented, yesterday, by the president of the Hellenic Confederation of Trade and Entrepreneurship (ESEE), Giorgos Karanikas, in the context of a press conference.
The remarkable thing is that trade maintains these… sceptres, even though in 2023, employment in the sector showed a decline of 3.5%, compared to 2022. To be precise, according to the figures of the Labor Force Survey of EL.STAT ., in the second quarter of 2023, 699,259 people over 15 years of age were employed in trade, i.e. 25,097 fewer employed compared to 2022.
At the same time, the decline in employment in the trade sector contrasts with the significant increase in its turnover (2.2%), which occurred during the first three quarters of 2023, compared to the corresponding ones in 2022. This finding highlights the fact that the size of employment in an industry is not uniquely determined by turnover, but depends on and is influenced by a number of factors.
It is noted that the increase in turnover refers to nominal and not real terms, i.e. it is directly affected by inflation. In particular, the inflation of prices by suppliers, energy costs and, more generally, operating costs contributes to the rise of the final prices of products and services to consumers.
These developments may also be due to the transformation of the industry due to the impact of the pandemic and the price crisis. In this context, it is not surprising that there is a common trend towards employment change within sectors, with strong, however, variations in intensity.
More specifically, employment in all three trade sub-sectors decreased compared to last year. The largest percentage decline in employment was recorded in motor vehicles (-19.4%), followed by wholesale (-2.8%) and retail trade (-0.7%).
In essence, the relatively small contribution of workers in the vehicle subsector to total employment in the sector ultimately held the decline in trade employment to 3.5%.
Beyond that, according to data from the Annual Report, the main challenges faced by commercial enterprises continue to be: a) the management of revaluations, b) financial obligations and c) liquidity.
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