Development Profile of the Region of Central Macedonia, Greece
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Development profile of Regions crossed by the Egnatia Motorway: Region of Central Macedonia Egnatia Odos A.E. – Observatory, July 2006 Development profile of the Region of Central Macedonia, Greece The Region of Central Macedonia is the largest Region in Impact Zone IV1 of the Egnatia Motorway, in terms of size and population. Specifically, it is almost 1/3 of Impact Zone IV in size (19,146 km2) and has 48% of the Zone population (2001: 1,871,952 inhabitants). In the period 1991-2001 the Region population increased by 9.5%, thus marking the greatest increase among the five Regions of Impact Zone IV. At the prefecture level, in 2001 the 57% of the Region’s population lived in the Prefecture of Thessaloniki (1,057,825 inhabitants). Then followed the Prefectures of Serres (200,916 inhabitants), Pella (145,797 inhabitants), Imathia (143,618 inhabitants), Pieria (129,846 inhabitants), Chalkidiki (104,894 inhabitants), and Kilkis (89,056 inhabitants). The highest population increase in the period 1991-2001 was noted in the Prefectures of Chalkidiki, Thessaloniki, and Pieria (13.9%, 11.7% and 11.2% respectively) whereas the lowest increase was found in the Prefecture of Imathia (2.6%). As regards urban centres (population over 10,000 inhabitants), nine such centres are found in the Region of Central Macedonia. The largest city in the Region and the second largest in Greece is Thessaloniki; in 2001 the population in the Greater Area of Thessaloniki was 981,933 people. Katerini ranks second with only 55,000 people. The highest population increase in the period 1991-2001 was found in Kilkis (43.6%) and the lowest in Naousa (0.4%). As regards the regional market size, in 2003 Central Macedonia produced 52% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Impact Zone IV, and 16.8% of the national GDP. In absolute numbers, in 2003 the GDP of the Region was € 26,089.9 m. In the period 1 Impact Zone IV comprises the Greek Regions crossed by the Egnatia mainline and vertical axes: Eastern Macedonia & Thrace, Central Macedonia, Western Macedonia, Epirus, and Thessaly. 1 Development profile of Regions crossed by the Egnatia Motorway: Region of Central Macedonia Egnatia Odos A.E. – Observatory, July 2006 2000-2003 the average annual change was 3.21%, smaller than the average of Impact Zone IV (3,96%) and of Greece (4.55%). The main development pole was the Prefecture of Thessaloniki, which produced 66.8% of the total product of the Region, i.e. € 17,416.5 m. The contribution of the rest of Prefectures to the regional GDP ranged below 10%. The Prefecture of Thessaloniki was followed by the Prefectures of Serres, Imathia, Chalkidiki, Pella, Pieria, and Kilkis. As regards the economic growth, in the period 2000-2003, the average annual GDP increase of the Prefecture of Kilkis was the highest in the Region (5.24%), followed by the Prefectures of Chalkidiki and Thessaloniki with annual rates of 4.96% and 3.4% respectively. Convergence with the average GDP per head of EU25 The growth and prosperity 120% level of the inhabitants of Central Macedonia is the 100% second highest in Impact Zone IV. In 2003 the GDP 80% 75% per head was 17,110.4 PPS or € 13,691.7, an amount 60% 109.1% corresponding to 78.7% of 100.0% the average GDP per head 40% 81.1% 80.8% 78.7% 74.2% 73.2% 66.4% in EU25. At the Prefecture 62.4% level, the highest GDP per 20% head is found in the Prefecture of Thessaloniki 0% EU 15 EU 25 Greece West Central Impact Thessaly Epirus East. (90.3% of EU25) followed Macedonia Macedonia Zone IV Macedonia & Thrace by Chalkidiki (89.5% of EU25). The lowest growth and prosperity level in relation to the average GDP per head in EU25 was found in 2003 in the Prefectures of Serres (52.1%) and Pieria (54.2%). The composition of production in the Region of Central Macedonia follows the national pattern. Specifically, in 2003, 7.5% of the Gross Value Added (GVA) came from the primary sector, 21.1% from the secondary sector, and 71.4% from the tertiary sector, with the value of services having the highest average annual increase of 3.6% in 2000-2003, lower though than the national average (4.6%). At the intraregional level the gravity of the agricultural sector is greater than the national level in all Prefectures with the exception of the Prefecture of Thessaloniki. The gravity of the secondary sector is greater in the Prefectures of Kilkis, Imathia, and Thessaloniki, whereas the gravity of the tertiary sector is greater in the Prefectures of Pieria and Thessaloniki. In 2003 the Prefecture of Thessaloniki produced 11.2% of the total product of the secondary sector in Greece and 11.9% of the tertiary sector. The unemployment rate in the Region of Central Macedonia in 2004 reached 12.2%. This rate is the third highest in Impact Zone IV. In 1999-2004 this rate increased by 2.5%, while in the same period the national rate decreased by 13.2%. 2 Development profile of Regions crossed by the Egnatia Motorway: Region of Central Macedonia Egnatia Odos A.E. – Observatory, July 2006 Unemployment 15.0% 12.5% EU 25 10.0% EU 15 Greece 7.5% Zone IV Central Macedonia 5.0% 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 The workforce percentage of the population over the age of 15 in the Region of Central Macedonia is the second highest in Impact Zone IV. In 2004 the workforce percentage was 43.8%, while it was 43.4% for the entire Impact Zone IV, and 44.1% for Greece. In 1999-2004 the workforce percentage of the population over the age of 15 increased by 1.3%, while this increase was 1.5% for the entire Impact Zone IV, and 2.4% for Greece. As with the production composition, the employment composition in Central Macedonia follows the patterns of the national distribution. Specifically in 2003, 16.8% of those working were employed in the primary sector, 25.8% in the secondary sector, and 57.4% in the tertiary sector. The differentiation from the national distribution results from the fact that Central Macedonia has a slightly higher percentage in the secondary sector and a slightly smaller concentration of workforce employed in services. The value of imports and exports of Central Macedonia in 2004 is the highest of Impact Zone IV, and the second highest in Greece. Moreover, the value of exports as a percentage of the GDP of the Region is the highest in Greece. In 2001-2004 imports increased at an average rate of 9.2% exceeding the average of Impact Zone IV. For the same period exports decreased by 3.6% annually, at a rate equal to that of Impact Zone IV. 3 Development profile of Regions crossed by the Egnatia Motorway: Region of Central Macedonia Egnatia Odos A.E. – Observatory, July 2006 * The data concerning the regional GDP and the regional GVA derive from the latest Eurostat News Release (June 2006). It is noted that there is a considerable difference between these data and those included in the Fact Sheets of the corresponding indicators which were based on Eurostat’s News Release in January 2006. These differences are due to fact that during the year 2005 major revisions have been implemented in almost all Member States, including Greece, in national and regional accounts (for more on methodological changes see “Changes to National Accounts in 2005”, http://epp.eurostat.cec.eu.int/cache/ITY_PUBLIC/NATIONAL_ACCOUNTS_2005/EN/NATIONAL_ACC OUNTS_2005-EN.PDF, Sept. 2006). More notable is the case of the Region of Thessaly where there was a considerable upward revision for the years 2001 and 2002, mainly in the NACE industries Manufacturing, Construction, Education, Health and Social Work. For these reasons there are also considerable changes in the estimation of the process of the different regions compared to what is written in the Indicator’s Fact Sheets published by the Observatory in March 2006. More information on the availability and confirmation of these data/publications, on the methodology and technical support is provided by the Centre of Support of European Data in Greece (GREEK NATIONAL STATISTICAL ORGANISATION, http://www.statistics.gr/esds/intro_esds.asp), as well as from Eurostat (http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu). ** According to the Statistical Services of the E.U. (Eurostat, Statistics in Focus, Theme 2, 56/2002), it is acceptable to carry out the evaluation of the degree of convergence of areas, regions and other geographical units on the basis of the GDP p/h in a specific year, in units of Purchasing Power Standards (PPS). It is not acceptable, however, to compare the GDP in terms of Purchasing Power Standards across different years. To approach the problem of the diachronic transformations of the degree of convergence it is necessary to consider the GDP p/h in real terms (i.e. at constant prices) which explicitly adjust for price changes between years. 4 .