PIGS (economics)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
PIGS: Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain
PIIGS: with Ireland
PIIGGS: with Ireland and the UK (Great Britain)
A graph showing the economic data from Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece, Spain (PIIGS), Germany, the EU and the Eurozone for 2009. The data is taken from Eurostat.
PIGS (also PIIGS[1]) is a pejorative acronym used to refer to the economies of Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain. Since 2008, the term has included Ireland, either in place of Italy or with an additional I.
Originally, the term referred to Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain, which were notable as similar economic environments. Since the European sovereign debt crisis, with the addition of Ireland, the term is used to group European economies facing particular financial crisis. Some news and economic organisations have limited or banned use of the term because of criticism regarding perceived offensive connotations.