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THESSALIA
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GEOGRAPHY AND DEMOGRAPHY
The Region of Thessalia, situated in the central part of mainland Greece, has an extent of 14,037 square meters (10.6% of the country’s overall extent), and is distributed in the following way: 36.1% cultivation, 19.5% forests, 37.5% pastures and 6.9% the rest. The population amounts to 750,000 inhabitants and at an administrative level it is divided into four prefectures: the prefecture of Larissa, the prefecture of Magnesia, the prefecture of Karditsa, the prefecture of Trikala. |
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INFRASTRUCTURES
Thessalia has a good transportation network. Larisa is a hub of Greece's road and rail systems, whilst the port of Volos is one of the largest in the country. |
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ECONOMY
The most developed economic sector in Thessaly is the primary sector producing about 30% of the Gross Regional Product and occupying almost the 35% of the workforce. The secondary sector contributes to the Gross Regional Product about 30% occupying the 20% of the workforce and strengthening manufacturing (craft industry and industry in the food, textile, clothing, wood-furniture, metal products sectors). The dynamic increasing development of the tertiary sector, with almost 45% of the Gross Regional Product and the 45% of the workforce, is mainly due to the remarkable tourist resources (the islands of N. Sporades, Pilio, Plastira Lake, Mountains). Trade and other services contribute with a lower percentage to the tertiary sector, while the contribution of the transport sector is decreasing considerably. The reginal per capita GDP (EU25=100) is 50,80. |
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LABOUR MARKET
The unemployment percentage (9%) is at lower levels than the national one (10%) while the educational level of the workforce is higher than the respective one of the country. The employment rate is 48,60% (female 35%, male 62%). 24,32% of the employees works in the primary sector, 20,80% in the industrial sector, 54,80% in services. |
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DATA RELATED TO REGIONAL STRUCTURAL FUNDS MECHANISM
The region belongs to EU objective 1 for the period 2000-2006. |
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RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
Thessalia accounted for 16% of Greek expenditure on research and development. About 71% of the research and development expenditures came from the higher education sector, 19% from the business enterprise sector and 11% from the government sector. |
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REGIONAL PROGRAMME OF INNOVATIVE ACTIONS
The data obtained during the implementation of the RIS and RIS+ programmes present the advantages and the development opportunities for the Region of Thessaly, which favour its developing course: the rich and of many centuries economic, social and cultural tradition, the geographical position of a junction along the axis Patra-Athens-Thessaloniki-Alexandroupoli and the axis Volos-Igoumenitsa via the port of Volos. Other advantages include the big infrastructure projects, the positive attitude of businesses towards changes and innovation, which is directly related to the comparatively strong economic status of the Region’s businesses, and the important presence of a dynamic at a national level with the creation of new businesses and jobs. Furthermore, positive points for the Region are certain horizontal actions of the manufacturing sector on employee training and product certification issues, the satisfying competitiveness of its products, especially those related to manufacturing products of the primary sector and the possibilities for further penetration of the region’s products into the markets of the Balkans and Eastern Europe. Respectively, the disadvantages, the risks in Thessaly and its weak points that slow down its developing course and demand immediate remedy are: the unjust distribution of the economic activity in the region, deindustrialization phenomena mainly in sectors undergoing a crisis, the domination of small industrial units, the high contribution of the declining Textiles sector in the industrial product and employment. The great dependence of the industrial activity of many areas on textiles, the negative financial development of the services sector in relation to the entire country, the dependence of industrial business on foreign funds and the low profits of the service business and secondarily of the industrial sector.
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