The economic impact of immigration in Greece: taking stock of the existing evidence.

Since the early 1990s, Greece has been a popular immigrant destination; nowadays, around one-tenth of the population are immigrants - mainly from neighbouring Balkan countries, especially Albania. This large-scale immigration within a short time-period has had important social, as well as, economic consequences. The paper reviews the existing evidence and concludes that on average the economic effects of immigration were beneficial, although their distributional consequences were adverse. The main positive effects are associated with the increase in the GDP growth rate; revitalization of the agricultural sector and many small and medium enterprises; the dampening of inflationary pressures; and the short-term positive impact of immigration on the social security system. On the negative side, immigrants have helped to expand the already large informal economy, and although on aggregate their skills seem to complement those of native workers, they have tended to substitute for Greek unskilled and semi-skilled workers. This has excerbated income inequality, as well as increasing unemployment and slowing wage growth for those with low skills. Greek immigration policy has been haphazard, and measures are required to integrate the immigrants into the economic and social fabric of the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]