ΑΤΗΕΝS — The Greek current accounts deficit soared to 11.1 billion euros, or 7.0 pct of the country's GDP, in 2020, from 2.7 billion in 2019, the Bank of Greece said on Monday, reflecting a significant reduction of the surplus in the services' balance due to a plunge in tourism revenue.

More specifically, the central bank said that tourism revenue fell to 4.2 billion euros in 2020 from 18.1 billion in 2019, with the surplus of the services balance dropping to 7.2 billion euros in 2020 from 21.1 billion in 2019. Revenue from travel services and tourist arrivals plunged 76.5 pct in 2020, with revenue from sea transport down 15.3 pct. The balance of goods showed a deficit of 18.5 billion euros in 2020, down from 22.8 billion in 2019, while the value of imports (excluding fuel) totaled 37.9 billion euros, from 40.7 billion, respectively. The country's exports also fell to 22.6 billion euros in 2020 from 23.2 billion the previous year. The total balance of current accounts and capital, representing the needs of the economy for funding from abroad, recorded a deficit of 8.4 billion euros in 2020, up 6.4 billion from 2019. Direct investments recorded an increase of 689 million euros.