How can culture serve as a catalyst for both economic and broader development in the country? What policies can be designed and implemented to address existing problems?;
The new study by the research and analysis organization diANEOsis, which is also available in book form, was authored by eight researchers—each an expert in a different field of culture—with cultural strategy consultant Christos Karras serving as the project coordinator.
This new research will be presented at the public event «Culture: Our Great Competitive Advantage,» co-organized by diNEOsis and the Friends of Music Association, on Wednesday, October 18, at the Athens Concert Hall.
This study aims to provide a detailed overview and systematic analysis of the Cultural and Creative Sectors (CCS) in Greece: visual arts, architecture, audiovisual media, archives, libraries, books, the press, advertising, and crafts.
Above all, however, it aims to bring into the public discourse the dozens of policy measures it proposes for each of the well-known or lesser-known problems it identifies.
As for the benefits of culture to the economy, the study—in addition to the strong Greek cultural heritage brand that attracts many visitors each year and boosts tourism— it highlights the generally younger and well-educated workforce in the cultural and creative industries, the contribution of culture to better and more sustainable cities through contemporary cultural events that bring cities to life, and the therapeutic properties of art, particularly in relation to mental health.
However, the diaNEOsis study identifies many untapped opportunities: we import more cultural products (worth €181 million) than we export (€110 million). The cultural sector employs approximately 3% of the country’s workforce but generates only 1.4% of Gross Value Added, an indication of low productivity. Greek workers in the cultural sectors are organized into fragmented small businesses, with an average of 2.3 employees per enterprise—which is not far from the European average (2.7), but in other countries, such as Germany, this figure is more than double (6.4).
As for government spending on cultural services per capita, it is the lowest in Europe—about one-fifth of the European average, according to the survey.
The data also reveal very significant disparities between Athens and the rest of the country in the cultural and creative sectors, with a clear concentration in the capital. Three-quarters of the sector’s gross value added corresponds to activity in the Attica region, where approximately 6 out of 10 companies in the sector are headquartered and where 6 out of 10 employees work. Of the 120 Greek organizations supported by Creative Europe during the 2014–2020 period, three-quarters were based in Attica.
Work in the Cultural Sector
According to the official statistics on which the diaNEOsis study is based, PDTs in Greece employ approximately 144,700 workers (in 2022), representing about 2.9% of the country’s total workforce. This number has declined significantly during the pandemic years due to lockdowns—in fact, the fluctuations appear to be much more pronounced in Greece compared to the European average. And despite the creation of a registry of artists and the ambitious reform effort to improve their social security and labor conditions, the problems faced by cultural workers in Greece did not begin with the pandemic; they simply became more widely known at that time through initiatives such as Support Art Workers. In a 2018 survey, 6 out of 10 visual artists reported being uninsured, 9 out of 10 reported having trouble paying their regular bills, and 6 out of 10 said their individual monthly income did not exceed 800 euros. .
Policy Proposals by diNEOSis
The diaNEOsis study offers short-term, medium-term, and long-term recommendations for the cultural sector.
For example, the abolition of the inheritance/gift tax (at 0.5%) on donations to charitable organizations, the separation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives related to culture from other initiatives—in order to provide appropriate tax incentives, the provision of incentives such as a reduced VAT rate (e.g., at 6%) for the import and local sale of works of art, the creation of a program to digitize the country’s cultural artifacts, etc.
