Portugal enjoys 5th highest growth in the EU in Q3

Portugal was the fifth fastest growing country in the European Union in the third quarter of the year compared to the same period last year.

Eurostat revealed on Thursday that national GDP had a gain of 1.9% between July and September, behind only Cyprus, which grew 3.8%, Spain, which registered a variation of 3.4%, Lithuania, with 2.3%, and Bulgaria, with 2.2%, taking into account the available data, since there is no information for some member states such as Holland, Luxembourg and Denmark.

National GDP has registered consecutive gains since the beginning of the year, in the year-on-year variation by quarter: between January and March it rose 1.4%, between April and June it grew 1.6%, and between July and September it advanced 1.9%. However, in the last quarter of last year, and compared to the same period in 2022, the Portuguese economy was growing the most: 2.1%.

The Bank of Portugal revised downwards its forecast for economic growth to 1.6% this year and 2.1% in 2025, but forecasts a significant increase in the contribution of investment in the next two years.

In its October Economic Bulletin, the institution led by Mário Centeno warns that fiscal policy will have to be adjusted in a phase of less economic expansion in order for the government’s commitment to reducing the public debt ratio to remain on course.