Government at a Glance 2017

Country Fact Sheetwww.oecd.org/gov/govataglance.htm

Greece achieved its first fiscal surplus in 2016 since the crisis

Since 2009, Greece has been mired in a deep fiscal and economic crisis, yet in 2016 the country registered a positive fiscal balance of 0.7% of GDP, as economic growth was positive and fiscal consolidation contin-ued. The composition of government expenditures has also changed: between 2007 and 2015, government expenditures as a share of GDP in health care decreased by -1.5 p.p., from 6.8% to 5.3% of GDP, while gen-eral government services, which include debt servicing, decreased by -1.8 p.p., from 11.7% to 9.9% of GDP following adjustment programs. Over this period government spending in defence, housing and community amenities remained unchanged as a share of GDP, while expenditures in social protection and economic affairs increased by 4.8 p.p. and 4.7 p.p. respectively.

Chapter 2. Public finance and economics

General government fiscal balance as a percentage of GDPChange in the structure of general government expenditures by function

Greece has started to conduct public spending reviews

Given the economic crisis originated in unsustainable public spending, between 2008 and 2016 Greece conducted 2 comprehensive spending reviews. Comprehensive spending reviews can cover 20 to 100% of all public expenditures, and often involve an evaluation of programme efficiency in order to help prioritise resources in a way that improve the effectiveness and sustainability of public spending.

Chapter 5. Budgeting practices and procedures

Frequency and scope of spending reviews

Government employment has decreased substantially since the beginning of the crisisin Greece

As part of fiscal consolidation, a substantial reduction in employment in general government was imple-mented after the crisis erupted in 2007. Although employment reduction started slowly, as between 2007 and 2009 government employment fell by close to 1%,annually between 2011 and 2012 government em-ployment fell by 7%. In contrast, government employment grew by 0.6% between 2007 and 2009 annually on average across all OECD countries, and decreased by 0.4% on average between 2011 and 2012 when the sovereign debt crisis occurred. From 2014 to 2015 there has been no change in government employment in Greece while on aveage in the OECD government employment increased by 0.5%.

Chapter 3. Public employment and pay

Annual growth rate of government employment

Greece

Fiscal balance*(2015, 2016)

Government expenditures(2015, 2016)

Government gross debt*(2015, 2016)

% of GDP % of GDP % of GDP

Source: OECD National Accounts Source: OECD National Accounts

G@G /dataG@G /data

26134,500

88,70052,700

Middle Managers(D3 positions)

Senior Managers(D1 positions)

SeniorProfessionals

SecretarialPositions

2015USD PPP

150,000

300,000

450,000

231,500

45,400

Greece

54,50086,000

120,600

Annual compensation across central government positions (2015)

Government investment(2015, 2016)

How to read the figures:

Greece

Country value in blue (not represented if not available)

Average of OECD countries in red

Range of OECD country values in grey

Public Finance and Economics

10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

24.9%27.1%

Greece

20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

2015

40.9%

49.0%2016

54.2%2015

Greece

2015

3.2%

3.5%2016

4.7%2015

0% 2% 4% 6% 8%

Greece181.6%2015

185.2% 100%

0%

2016

112%100%

0%

2015

0% 50% 100% 150% 200% 250%

Greece

Values have been rounded. n.a. refers to

data not available

% of GDP

Public Employment

Source: OECD (2016) Survey on the Composition of the workforce in Central/federal Governments

Source: OECD (2016) Survey on the compensation of employees in central / federal governments

... and in senior positions (2015)

Source: OECD* See Notes National Accounts

Source: OECD* SNA definition, see Notes National Accounts

Public Sector Compensation

53.0%51.7%Greece

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

32.4%50.6%Greece

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Women in the civil service ...

Source: OECD (2016) Survey on the Composition of the workforce in Central/federal Governments

Percentage of central government employees aged 55 years or older

(2015)

General government employmentas % of total employment (2015)

18.1%

18.0%Greece

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

Source: OECD National Accounts

-10% 0%-5% +5% +10%

-2.8%

Greece2016

0.7% -5.9%

2015

2015

Budgeting

Women in Government

Extent of delegationof HRM practicesin line ministries

0.45

0.64

Extent of the useof performance

assessmentsin HR decisions

0.53

0.64

Extent of the useof performance

related pay

none

0.66

Use of separateHRM practices

for seniorcivil servants

0.83

0.55

Collectionof administrative

data

0.45

0.68

Composite indexfrom 0 lowest to 1 highest

0

0.25

0.50

0.75

1

Greece

G@G /data

Source: OECD (2016) Strategic Human Resources Management Survey

Composite indicators on HRM practices in central government (2016)

Human Resource Management

Composite indices on regulatory governance for primary laws*(2014)

G@G /data

Regulatory governance

0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

29.1%

50%

20.5%

Greece

Source: OECD National Accounts

General governmentprocurement expenditures

(2015)% of government expenditures

Public Procurement

Support for greenpublic procurement

Some procuring entities have developed an internal strategy/policy

A strategy/policy has been developed at a central level

Support forSMEs

Support for innovativegoods and services

A strategy/policy has been rescinded

There has never been a strategy/policy in place

11 25 1 0 8 24 0 1 9 19 0 6

Greece

Strategic public procurement - Objectives(2016)

Source: OECD (2016) Survey on Public Procurement

* See Notes Source: OECD Indicators of Regulatory Policy and Governance (iREG)

0.41

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

0.36Greece

Composite indexfrom 0 lowest to 1 highest

Performance budgetingpractices at the central level

of government (2016)

Source: OECD (2016) Survey of Performance Budgeting

Stakeholderengagement in

developing regulations

2.19 2.09

Regulatory ImpactAssessment for

developing regulations

1.53

2.05

Ex post evaluationof regulations

0.04

1.54

Composite indexfrom 0 lowest to 4 highest

0

1

2

3

4

Greece

Notes Fiscal balance as reported in the System of National Accounts (SNA) framework, also referred to as net lending (+) or net borrowing (-) of government, is calculated as total government revenues minus total government expenditures. Regulatory governance indicators: The results for stakeholder engagement and Regulatory Impact Assessment apply exclusively to processes for developing primary laws initiated by the executive. Data is not applicable to the United States, where all primary laws are initiated by Congress. In the majority of countries, most primary laws are initiated by the executive, except for Mexico and Korea, where a higher share of primary laws are initiated by parliament/congress (respectively 90.6% and 84%). Government gross debt is reported according to the SNA definition, which dif fers from the definition applied under the Maastricht Treaty. It is defined as all liabilities that require payment or payments of interest or principal by the debtor to the creditor at a date or dates in the future. All debt instruments are liabilities, but some liabilities such as shares, equity and financial derivatives are not debt.

Open Data Digital Government

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

35.6%26.0%

Greece

Individuals using the Internet for sending filled forms via public authorities websites

in the past 12 months (2016)

Source: OECD, ICT database; and Eurostat, Information Society database

OURdata Index:Open, Useful, Reusable Government Data

(2017)Composite index: from 0 lowest to 1 highest

Source: OECD (2017) Survey on Open Government Data

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

0.54

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

0.55

Greece

Dataavailability

Dataaccessibility

Governmentsupportto re-use

Differences in income inequality pre and post-taxand government transfers (2013)

Greece

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6Higher

inequality

Lowerinequality

Before After

0.57

0.34taxes and transfers

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

Before After

0.47

0.32taxes and transfers

Higherinequality

Lowerinequality

Source: OECD Income Distribution Database

Limited government powers (2016)

0.75

0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1

0.64Greece

Source: The World Justice Project

Core Government ResultsSatisfaction and confidence across public services

(2016)

70%

Judicial system Education system

31%20

40

60

80

100

Health care

67%44%55%42%

National government42%13%

Greece

Average

Range

Police77%69%

Source: Gallup World Poll

% of citizens expressing confidence/satisfaction

Government at a Glance 2017Government at a Glance provides readers with a dashboard of key indicators assembled with the goal of contributing to the analysis and international

comparison of public sector productivity and performance. Indicators on government revenues, expenditures, and employment are presented,

alongside key output and outcome data for education, health and justice. Information on key enablers to increase productivity including on digital

government, budget procedures, strategic human resource management, open government data and innovative practices are also included. In

a context of tight budget constraints in many member countries, good indicators are needed more than ever, in order to help governments make

informed decisions regarding resource allocation and to help restore confidence in government institutions.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/gov_glance-2017-en

The Excel spreadsheets used to create the tables and figures in Government at a Glance 2017 are available via the StatLinks provided throughout the publication:

For more information on the data (including full methodology and figure notes)and to consult all other Country Fact Sheets: www.oecd.org/gov/govataglance.htm