Greece, 2009–2018
Democracy · Republic · Southern Europe · The 2010s era
Greece through the sovereign-debt crisis: a democracy under a deep depression, austerity conditionality and external oversight before exiting its bailouts.
After the 2009 disclosure of large budget deficits, Greece lost market access and entered a series of bailout programs conditioned on austerity and structural reforms overseen by the EU and IMF. Output fell by roughly a quarter and unemployment rose sharply, fueling political volatility, new parties and repeated elections. The country exited its final bailout program in 2018 while remaining within the eurozone.
Dominant patterns
- Economic Crisis
- Democratization
- Revolutionary Risk
- Institutional Decay
Political-science factor profile
Each factor 0–100; higher = stronger authoritarian / crisis pole (except institutional stability, where higher = stronger institutions).
| Centralization of Power | 45 |
| Media Control | 35 |
| Repression | 35 |
| Nationalism | 55 |
| Militarization | 35 |
| Economic Stress | 95 |
| External Conflict | 25 |
| Cult of Personality | 30 |
| Elite Fragmentation | 65 |
| Institutions | 48 |
| Social Polarization | 70 |
| Corruption & Patrimonialism | 60 |
| Ideological Mobilization | 45 |
| External Sovereignty | 60 |
Economy & society
| GDP per capita | $27k (intl-$) |
| GDP growth | -4%/yr |
| Population | 11.0M people |
| Share of world population | 0.15% |
| Urban share | 78% |
| Life expectancy | 81 years |
Closest historical twins
The country-eras whose structural profile most resembles Greece 2009–2018, by similarity score (0–100).
- Tunisia, 2011–2019 – similarity 82/100 · shared: Economic Crisis, Democratization, Revolutionary Risk, Institutional Decay
- Brazil, 2011–2016 – similarity 81/100 · shared: Economic Crisis, Democratization, Revolutionary Risk
- Indonesia, 1998–2004 – similarity 74/100 · shared: Economic Crisis, Revolutionary Risk, Institutional Decay
- South Africa, 1994–2008 – similarity 67/100 · shared: Economic Crisis, Democratization
- Brazil, 2019–2022 – similarity 62/100 · shared: Economic Crisis, Democratization, Revolutionary Risk
- France, 1715–1723 – similarity 60/100 · shared: Economic Crisis, Democratization, Institutional Decay
- United Kingdom, 1970–1979 – similarity 58/100 · shared: Economic Crisis, Democratization
- Russia, 1991–1999 – similarity 56/100 · shared: Economic Crisis, Revolutionary Risk, Institutional Decay
What followed
- A sovereign-debt depression and successive bailouts.
- Exit from the bailout programs by 2018.