Greek GDP for 2007 is $360.03 billion and Bulgaria’s is $39.55 billion. The data was published in The Wall Street Journal in a huge analysis about the Balkans economy condition. At the same time, the difference in the population is not big – Greeks are 10 million and Bulgarians are 7.6 million. Greece, who is an EU member since 1981, has an average GDP growth of 4.3% between 2000 and 2007. For the same period, Bulgaria’s GDP growth is 5.7%, keeping in mind that the country has been in the European Union since 01.01.2007.

The Wall Street Journal explains the Greek GDP growth with the jump of the Greek economy around the 28^th summer Olympic games, held in 2004 in Athens. The biggest share of this growth is owed to tourism – 15%. After that is trade with 14% from the GDP for 2007. In Bulgaria, the biggest contribution for the GDP is foreign investments – 20%. The newspaper notes, that foreign investments in Bulgaria are considerably more than the ones in other countries in the region, and that they have increased 8 times since 2002.

The Wall Street Journal reminds that Bulgaria has become attractive for investors because it improved its business regulations. The country is among the 10 best changing economies for the period June 2007-June 2008 and it keeps the 45^th place in the “Where to do business” report of the World Bank for 2009, which is far ahead from other members in the EU like Romania, Slovenia, Poland, and Italy.

Greece, which is the only Balkan country member of the Euro zone, is classified by the newspaper as having the most advanced economy in comparison to its neighbors. Nonetheless, The Wall Street Journal reminds us that for EU standards, Greece has problems with the budget loss, inflation, and unemployment. According to the newspaper, the Greek weak point is “its generous pension system, which spoils pensioners and doesn’t motivate them to work additionally, and at the same time loads active citizens.”