Albania: Economic System: Mixed HDI: .733 Development Level: MDC GDP (NOMINAL): 12.269 Billion USD GNI Per Capita: 11140 USD Economic Activities by sector: Primary: 21.9% Secondary: 14.9% Tertiary: 63.3% Major Imports: Machinery, food Major Exports: Textiles, footwear Andorra: Economic System: Mixed HDI: .845 Development Level: MDC GDP (NOMINAL): 4.8 Billion USD GNI Per Capita: 37200 USD Economic Activities by sector: Primary: 14% Secondary: 79% Tertiary: 6% Major Imports: Consumer goods, food Major Exports: Tobacco products, furniture Bosnia and Herzegovina: Economic System: Mixed HDI: .733 Development Level: MDC GDP (NOMINAL): 16.324 Billion USD GNI Per Capita: 10160 USD Economic Activities by sector: Primary: 7.9% Secondary: 26.5% Tertiary: 65.6% Major Imports: Machinery, chemicals Major Exports: Metals, clothing Croatia: Economic System: Mixed HDI: .818 Development Level: MDC GDP (NOMINAL): 49.928 Billion USD GNI Per Capita: 21730 USD Economic Activities by sector: Primary: 4.3% Secondary: 26.2% Tertiary: 69.5% Major Imports: Machinery, transport and electrical equipment Major Exports: Transport equipment, machinery Greece: Economic System: Mixed HDI: .865 Development Level: MDC GDP (NOMINAL): 194.594 Billion USD GNI Per Capita: 26790 USD Economic Activities by sector: Primary: 4% Secondary: 15% Tertiary: 80.8% Major Imports: Machinery, transport equipment Major Exports: Food, manufactured goods Italy: Economic System: Mixed HDI: .873 Development Level: MDC GDP (NOMINAL): 1.849 Trillion USD GNI Per Capita: 35850 USD Economic Activities by sector: Primary: 2.3% Secondary: 23.7% Tertiary: 74% Major Imports: Engineering products, chemicals Major Exports: Engineering products, clothing Macedonia: Economic System: Mixed HDI: .747 Development Level: MDC GDP (NOMINAL): 10.424 Billion USD GNI Per Capita: 13570 USD Economic Activities by sector: Primary: 11.2% Secondary: 26.1% Tertiary: 62.7% Major Imports: Machinery, automobiles Major Exports: Food, beverages, tobacco Malta: Economic System: Mixed HDI: .839 Development Level: MDC GDP (NOMINAL): 10.341 Billion USD GNI Per Capita: 27390 USD Economic Activities by sector: Primary: 1.4% Secondary: 11.4% Tertiary: 87.2% Major Imports: Fuels, oils Major Exports: Machinery, fuels Montenegro: Economic System: Mixed HDI: .802 Development Level: MDC GDP (NOMINAL): 4.182 Billion USD GNI Per Capita: 15890 USD Economic Activities by sector: Primary: 8.3% Secondary: 21.2% Tertiary: 70.5% Major Imports: N/A Major Exports: N/A Portugal: Economic System: Mixed HDI: .830 Development Level: MDC GDP (NOMINAL): 205.085 Billion USD GNI Per Capita: 28590 USD Economic Activities by sector: Primary: 2.4% Secondary: 21.9% Tertiary: 75.9% Major Imports: Agricultural products, chemicals Major Exports: Agricultural products, food San Marino: Economic System: Mixed HDI: N/A Development Level: MDC GDP (NOMINAL): 1.569 Billion USD GNI Per Capita: 63900 USD Economic Activities by sector: Primary: 0% Secondary: 39.2% Tertiary: 60.7% Major Imports: manufactured goods, food Major Exports: stone, lime, wood Serbia: Economic System: Mixed HDI: .771 Development Level: MDC GDP (NOMINAL): 37.381 Billion USD GNI Per Capita: 12800 USD Economic Activities by sector: Primary: 9.5% Secondary: 41.9% Tertiary: 48.6% Major Imports: Machinery, fuels Major Exports: Iron and steel, rubber, clothes Slovenia: Economic System: Mixed HDI: .880 Development Level: MDC GDP (NOMINAL): 43.791 Billion USD GNI Per Capita: 30830 USD Economic Activities by sector: Primary: 2.3% Secondary: 33.5% Tertiary: 64.2% Major Imports: Machinery, manufactured goods Major Exports: Manufactured goods, machinery Spain: Economic System: Mixed HDI: .876 Development Level: MDC GDP (NOMINAL): 1.242 Trillion USD GNI Per Capita: 34490 USD Economic Activities by sector: Primary: 2.5% Secondary: 22.6% Tertiary: 74.9% Major Imports: Machinery, equipment, fuels Major Exports: Machinery, vehicles, food
By only looking at these economic indicators, overall, these countries are in good economic standing. Southern Europe contains 2 of the top 20 largest economies in the world. Generally, Southern European countries have high incomes and standards of living, especially in the west. However, countries such as Greece are in large amounts of debt. In the east, there are several much poorer countries, including Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania. A reason why the eastern countries have such low GNI per capita is because of the Communist rule ofer that area until 1991. However, these countries' GNI's are increasing, along with other economic development in the region.
One advantage of the European Union on Southern Europe is that it leads to economic growth. For example, the European Union helped to modernize Spain and shift its economy from being an agricultural one to an industrial one. Also, countries in the EU can trade with each other without custom taxes, which encourages low prices. Another advantage of the EU is that the poor countries will benefit due to wealth of richer countries such as Germany having to be shared with them. Also, people in the EU can freely move to other countries which gives them more opportunities. One disadvantage of the EU is that the common use of the Euro sometimes causes problems. In countries such as Greece and Spain, it has contributed to low economic growth and high unemployment rates. Also, the EU encourages austerity, which is why it forced Greece to have government spending cuts during the recession, even though some did not think that this was a good idea.