Greece’s current account deficit decreased significantly by 2.1 billion euros in the eight-month period from January to August, falling to 6.6 billion euros, according to data from the Bank of Greece on Tuesday.

According to the announcement, this development reflects the reduction in the deficit in the goods balance as the decrease in imports exceeded that of exports in absolute terms. At current prices, exports of goods excluding fuel increased by 3.4%, while the corresponding imports recorded an increase of 2.7% (an increase of 6.1% and 2.1% in constant prices, respectively).

Developments on the tourism front were positive as non-resident tourist arrivals increased by 4.1% and related receipts by 12.0%, resulting in a widening of the surplus in the services balance to 16.3 billion euros.

Tourism revenues reached 16.7 billion euros in the first eight months of the year, up from 14.9 billion euros last year.