Portugal’s budget surplus at 0.7%

Portugal’s 2025 public accounts surplus is out. It has been set at 0.7% of GDP, an upward revision compared to the 0.3% of GDP estimated by the Ministry of Finance in the 2026 State Budget (OE2026), according to the first notification under the 2026 Excessive Deficit Procedure from the National Statistics Institute (INE), released on Thursday.

The Minister of Finance, Joaquim Miranda Sarmento, had already anticipated a better surplus than estimated, around 0.5% to 0.7%, and even said that 2025’s surplus would be “a good surprise”.

The INE’s conclusions now point to a much more favourable balance for Portugal in national accounting terms, the one that counts for Brussels. For the second consecutive year, Miranda Sarmento manages to deliver a brilliant performance in public accounts. In 2024, the estimated surplus of 0.4% also performed better, settling at 0.7%.

The accumulated public debt ratio also improved, falling to 89.7% of GDP. The 2026 State Budget estimated 90.2%, but data from the Bank of Portugal (BdP) in February already predicted a reduction to 89.7%, below the 93.6% of the previous year, and the lowest value since June 2010 (93.6%), or in 15 years.

“According to the provisional results obtained, Public Administrations (PA) enjoyed a positive balance of €2,058.6 million in 2025, which corresponded to 0.7% of GDP (0.6% in 2024).

The gross debt of Public Administrations decreased to 89.7% of GDP (93.5% in the previous year),” according to the same statistical note.

The INE (National Institute of Statistics) reminds that, “in accordance with European Union Regulations”, the institute “will send Eurostat the first notification of 2026 relating to the Excessive Deficit Procedure (EDP) by the end of the month”.

Source: Eco online; Credits: AmCham