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Natural Resources
Brief Economic History
Economic Overview<
Industry Overview
Major Economic Indicators
1. Natural Resources
The main minerals are bauxite, lignite, nickel, chromium, magnesium, petroleum, copper, uranium, gold, asbestos, and marble, with 20% of the area covered by forest. Aluminum, bauxite reserves of about 15,000 tons, iron reserves are estimated at 400 million tons, coal reserves of about 50 million tons. Forest resources are abundant, with a forest area of 600,000 hectares.
2. A Brief Economic History
During the Second World War, Greece was occupied by Germany. The war was fatal for the Greek economy, as industrial production in 1945 was only 31.9% of what it was in 1939, and only 20% of that was in the machine building sector. However, by 1949, after five years of reconstruction, Greece's net national product exceeded the pre-war level of 1939. From the 1950s to the 1970s, the Greek economy continued to grow at a high rate, averaging 7.4% per year between 1960 and 1973. From the 1970s to the present, the Greek economy has been characterized by instability and stagnation.
3. Economic overview
Greece is one of the less developed economies in the European Union, with a GDP per capita that ranks at the bottom of the EU-15. The economic foundation is relatively weak, foreign dependence is more serious. 80 years since the end of the slow economic development, public **** deficit and debt, inflation rate remains high. In recent years, the Greek government has pursued a severe austerity policy, stepped up efforts to combat tax evasion, reduced public **** expenditure, and accelerated the privatization process, in order to get rid of the economic difficulties over the years. After several years of efforts, the main economic indicators of the Greek economy have shown improvement. 1996 economic growth rate rose to 2.1% from about 1% in previous years, and the inflation rate fell to 8.3% from double-digit figures over the years.
4. Industry Overview
(1). Agricultural Overview
Agricultural output accounts for about 12% of GDP, arable land area is 3.96 million hectares, accounting for 30% of the country's area, and the number of people engaged in agriculture accounts for 25% of the country's total labor force, with the main crops including wheat, barley, maize, oats, rice, baked tobacco, sugar beet, potatoes, grapes, olives and so on. Livestock products include meat and milk.
Statistics of agricultural production
(2). Industrial Overview
Industrial output value accounts for about 25% of the GDP, the industrial base is weak, technologically backward and small. It is mainly composed of mining, manufacturing, energy and construction industries, and the number of employees accounts for about 27% of the total labor force. High-tech industries, especially communications, building materials and electrical appliances, have shown long-term growth. Industrial output accounts for 30% of GDP, with manufacturing and mining and construction accounting for 18.8% and 2.1% of GDP respectively. Employees account for about 30% of the total labor force. Generally speaking, the level of industrial development is low, and there are fewer industrial sectors, mainly relying on food and beverage processing and refining with imported crude oil to meet domestic needs. 1995 growth in industrial sectors varied greatly, with textile industry 0.56%, wood processing industry 11.13%, printing industry 11.19%, food processing 6.47%, glassware products 11.01%, and oilseed processing 21.52%. The industry has been in the process of developing a new generation of products and services for the last few years.
Statistics of industrial sector output
(3). Overview of the service industry
It is an important part of the economy, the strongest and fastest growing sector of the national economy. since the 80s, it has been developing at a rate higher than the average growth level of the national economy as a whole, with its output accounting for about 60% of the GDP and the number of employees accounting for about half of the total labor force. Tourism is well developed and is an important sector of the economy for obtaining foreign exchange and maintaining the balance of payments; in 1994, the total output amounted to DEM 14,525.5 billion, accounting for 62.6% of the GDP.
5. Main Economic Indicators
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (1995): 264,840 billion drachmas
Gross Domestic Product per capita (GDP) (1995): 2,579,000 drachmas
Gross Domestic Product Growth Rate (GDPGPR) (1996): 2.1%
Rate of Exchange (May 1, 1998): 1 USD = 310.015 drachmas
Inflation (1996): 8.3%
Unemployment (1996): 9.6%
Overview of the Danish Economy
Denmark's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was DKK 1,387 billion in 2002, an increase of 1.6% over the previous year, and GDP per capita reached DKK 258,000 ($32,700, converted at the average 2002 US dollar to krone exchange rate), making it one of the highest per capita GNPs in the world. With a population of 1.4% of the entire European Union, Denmark's economy accounts for about 2.1% of the entire EU GDP. Denmark is a country of high welfare, high income, high tax and high consumption. According to statistics, Denmark's per capita GDP is 20% higher than the average level of EU member states. In addition, Denmark has the lowest income distribution gap between the rich and the poor among OECD member countries. In the national economic output, the service sector is more than 70%, industry accounts for about 20%, and agriculture and animal husbandry accounts for about 4%. Denmark has a well-developed service sector, including commerce, telecommunications, finance, shipping, tourism and technical services. Denmark's main industrial sectors are: oil development, wind power, food processing, shipbuilding, building materials, electronics, chemicals, medicine, furniture and clothing. Its bridge construction, medical equipment, ship main engine, cement equipment, environmental protection equipment, optical communications, audio, hearing aids, toys, beer, enzymes, insulin and other technologies and products, as well as the Danish industrial design in the world renowned. The Danish Great Belt Bridge (cable-stayed bridge) has a main span of 1,624 meters, ranking second in the world. Denmark has advanced shipbuilding technology and is capable of building the world's largest container ships and supertankers. Denmark's agricultural science and technology level and production efficiency among the world's forefront, the main agricultural and fishery products are: pork and breeding pigs, dairy products, mink fur, grass seed, fishmeal and fish oil. Denmark's agricultural production is equivalent to three times the country's demand, two-thirds of the production of agricultural and livestock products for export.
45% of Denmark's GDP is contributed by exported goods and services. Exports of goods account for 31% and exports of services account for 14%. Seventy-five percent of goods exports are manufactured products, of which machinery and equipment account for 27 percent and chemical products for 12 percent. The main individual products are: household furniture, pharmaceuticals (including insulin, etc.), wind turbines, computer equipment, fiber optics, portable telephones, hearing aids, loudspeakers and toys. Agricultural exports account for 12% of total exports, with grass seed exports accounting for 20% of the world market (below), milk for 38%, ham and bacon for 28%, cheese for 8% and butter for 5%. Denmark is also the world's largest mink producer, with an annual output of more than 12 million mink, accounting for about 40% of the world market. Denmark is one of the world's top ten fishing countries, with 13% of the world market share in fisheries exports. Denmark exports 80% of its products to European countries, of which Germany accounts for about 19%, Sweden 11%, the United Kingdom 10%, in addition to Europe's largest exports to the United States and Japan, respectively, 6% and 4%. Denmark's service sector exports are mainly marine transportation, tourism, finance, engineering, construction, design consulting services and so on. Denmark's mineral resources are scarce, so almost half of its imports consist of raw materials and semi-finished products. One-quarter of imports are consumer goods, and especially durable consumer goods like small cars are import-dependent. Machinery, equipment and other asset-based goods accounted for 14% of total imports, while imported products and services accounted for 28% and 10% of GDP, respectively. The trade surplus is about 6% of GDP.
Denmark is currently practicing a monetary policy of linking the Danish krone to the euro in terms of interest rates and exchange rates, and using the euro as a benchmark to maintain a fluctuating interest rate level and exchange rate level of 2.25% or less. Since 1998, the Danish krone and the euro exchange rate changes have been maintained at the level of 0.3% -0.4%, the short-term exchange rate changes than the long-term exchange rate changes slightly larger. Denmark is at the same level of the economic cycle as the eurozone countries, and there is a high degree of convergence between the Danish economy and the economies of the eurozone countries. Denmark participates in the agreement on the second phase of the European Monetary System (ERMII) and is actively strengthening economic cooperation with the EU as a whole, and therefore the current monetary policy of the European Central Bank is also applicable to Denmark's current economic needs.
Since the 1990s, successive Danish governments have adhered to a prudent fiscal policy of moderate austerity aimed at maintaining balanced economic development, improving economic structure, increasing employment and maintaining the central fiscal surplus for the year, and macroeconomic indicators have improved significantly (see attached table). However, the aging of the population in Danish society and its high welfare system has increased the pressure on fiscal expenditure, the structural problems of labor and employment are more prominent, the wage increase in recent years is higher than the growth of GDP, and the level of wages and prices is among the highest in the EU.
The current Danish coalition government of the Liberal Conservative Party, on the basis of continuing to implement the above policies, has introduced some important policy measures, mainly: streamlining government agencies, simplifying the rules of the office, and compression of government expenditures; reduction of foreign aid; increasing the budget for incentives for business innovation and education and training; encouraging domestic and foreign enterprises to invest in job creation; and stabilizing the total tax burden and adjusting the structure of taxes and tax rates. Among them, the corporate income tax was reduced to 30%, and a policy to reduce personal income tax is proposed; accelerating the privatization of state-owned enterprises such as oil and gas companies, opening up the energy market, and increasing competition for the benefit of consumers and businesses; restructuring some welfare policies to incentivize employment; and introducing more clearly oriented foreigner work entry regulations and strict immigration laws and regulations, as well as stepping up law enforcement, among other things.