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State and economy

Portugal’s figures on public accounts, growth, investment, external accounts, companies and justice.

Public accounts

Government debt

89,7 % of GDPin 2025source · Eurostat

It weighs less than in 2024. Above the European Union average. For the European Commission, debt above 60 % of GDP is a sign of a possible imbalance: Portugal is above it.

2024:93,5European Union:81,7outside the Commission’s reference value (above 60 %)

Estonia 24,1Greece 146,1

Among the 27 EU countries in 2025, the lowest value is 24,1 (Estonia) and the highest is 146,1 (Greece); the EU average is 81,7. Portugal (89,7) ranks 6th from the highest.

All the countries

What this number is

It is everything general government owes, as a percentage of GDP, the value of everything the country produces in a year.

How much does general government owe, as a percentage of the value of the final goods and services the economy produces in a year (GDP)?

The reference value is the one of the Macroeconomic Imbalance Procedure scoreboard, set in the regulation that created the Procedure and revised by the European Commission.

Government balance (revenue minus spending)

0,7 % of GDPin 2025source · Eurostat

The balance rose from 2024. The Stability and Growth Pact does not allow the deficit to exceed 3 % of GDP: Portugal complies.

2024:0,6within the Stability Pact limit (above −3 %)

What this number is

In 2025 general government (the State, the autonomous regions, local authorities and social security) took in more than it spent: a surplus of 0,7 % of GDP, the value of everything the country produces in a year.

The reference value is the deficit limit that Member States pledged to keep to under the Stability and Growth Pact.

Growth of the spending counted by the European rule (net expenditure)

6,4 % growth over a yearin 2025source · Conselho das Finanças Públicas

It grew less than in 2024. Portugal committed, in a commitment endorsed by the Council of the European Union, not to let it grow by more than 5 % in 2025: it grew more than that.

2024:11,9outside the expenditure path approved by the Council of the EU (above 5 %)

What this number is

It is how much net public expenditure grew in a year: the expenditure that leaves out interest on the debt, spending financed by European funds and the spending that rises and falls with unemployment, as computed by the Public Finance Council.

The reference value is the growth rate of the net expenditure path that Portugal committed to and that the Council of the European Union approved.

Growth and investment

Real GDP per capita

20 700 euros per person, at 2015 prices (provisional data)in 2025source · Eurostat

Up from 2024. Below the European Union average.

2024:20 520European Union:31 890

What this number is

It is the value of everything the country produced in the year, per inhabitant, excluding the rise in prices, which the source calls chain linked volumes.

How much are the final goods and services the economy produces in a year worth per person, leaving out price rises (real GDP per capita, in chain linked volumes)?

Investment in durable goods used for production (gross fixed capital formation)

21,0 % of GDP (provisional data)in 2025source · Eurostat

Up from 2024. Below the European Union average.

2024:20,5European Union:21,4

What this number is

It is what companies, the State, households and non-profit institutions that produce in the country acquired in a year, less what they disposed of, in assets that last more than a year, such as buildings, machinery and software, as a percentage of GDP, the value of everything the country produces in a year.

Spending on research and development

1,73 % of GDPin 2024source · Eurostat

Up from 2023. Below the European Union average.

2023:1,68European Union:2,26 (estimated value)

What this number is

It is what was spent in the country on research and development in a year, by companies, the State, higher education and non-profit institutions, as a percentage of GDP, the value of everything the country produces in a year.

The external accounts

Current account balance

1,4 % of GDP, average of the year and the two beforein 2025source · Eurostat

Up from 2024. For the European Commission, a balance below −4 % or above 6 % is a sign of a possible imbalance: Portugal is between the two.

2024:0,4within the Commission’s reference values (between −4 and 6 %)

What this number is

It is the difference between what Portugal received from the rest of the world and what it paid to it, in goods, services and income, averaged over the last three years and as a percentage of GDP, the value of everything the country produces in a year. Positive means the country received more than it paid.

What is the difference between what the country received from the rest of the world and what it paid to it, for goods, services and income (the current account balance), as a percentage of the value of the final goods and services the economy produces in a year (GDP), on the average of that year and the two before it (the three-year backward moving average)?

What the country owns abroad minus what it owes (net international investment position)

−49,6 % of GDPin 2025source · Eurostat

Negative means the country owes abroad more than it owns there. The net external liability shrank from 2024. For the European Commission, a position below −35 % of GDP is a sign of a possible imbalance: Portugal is below it.

2024:−58,3outside the Commission’s reference value (below −35 %)

What this number is

It is the difference between what residents of Portugal own in the rest of the world and what they owe to it, as a percentage of GDP, the value of everything the country produces in a year.

What is the difference between what the country’s residents own in the rest of the world and what they owe to it (financial assets and liabilities relative to the rest of the world), as a percentage of the value of the final goods and services the economy produces in a year (GDP)?

Prices compared with trading partners, including the exchange rate (real effective exchange rate)

2,8 % change over three yearsin 2025source · Eurostat

The three-year change is larger than the one measured in 2024. The change is smaller than the European Union’s. For the European Commission, a change outside the range from −3 to 3 % is a sign of a possible imbalance: Portugal is within the range.

2024:0,4European Union:11,3within the Commission’s reference values (between −3 and 3 %)

What this number is

It measures the price competitiveness of Portugal against its main competitors, allowing for inflation and exchange rates, over three years. A rise is an appreciation: prices in Portugal increase relative to those of its partners and price competitiveness falls.

How much have the country’s prices relative to those of 41 other industrial countries, allowing for exchange rates and each country’s consumer prices, changed over three years (the real effective exchange rate, based on consumer price index deflators)?

Portugal’s share of advanced economies’ exports (export market share)

8,2 % change over three yearsin 2025source · Eurostat

The three-year change is smaller than the one measured in 2024. For the European Commission, a loss of more than 3 % over three years is a sign of a possible imbalance: Portugal is above that value.

2024:17,1within the Commission’s reference value (above −3 %)

What this number is

It is how much Portugal’s share of the exports of advanced economies changed over three years: the part that Portugal’s exports of goods and services make up of the total exports of OECD countries and of EU countries outside the OECD. Positive means Portugal gained share.

Over three years, how much has the part that the country’s exports of goods and services make up of the total exports of the countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and of EU countries outside the OECD (the advanced economies) changed?

Companies

Debt of (non-financial) companies

64,9 % of GDP (provisional data)in 2025source · Eurostat

It weighs less than in 2024. Below the European Union average. For the European Commission, debt above 85 % of GDP is a sign of a possible imbalance: Portugal is at or below it.

2024:67,1 (provisional data)European Union:70,0 (provisional data)within the Commission’s reference value (below 85 %)

What this number is

It is what companies owe in loans and debt securities, excluding financial companies, as a percentage of GDP, the value of everything the country produces in a year.

How much do companies other than financial companies owe in loans and debt securities, leaving out what they owe one another (the consolidated debt of non-financial corporations), as a percentage of the value of the final goods and services the economy produces in a year (GDP)?

Credit flow to (non-financial) companies

3,0 % of debt at the end of the previous yearin 2025source · Eurostat

Up from 2024. For the European Commission, a flow above 13 % is a sign of a possible imbalance: Portugal is at or below it.

2024:2,4within the Commission’s reference value (below 13 %)

What this number is

It is how much credit companies took on in a year, minus what they repaid, excluding financial companies and foreign direct investment, as a percentage of the debt they already had at the end of the previous year.

How much credit did companies other than financial companies take on in a year, minus what they repaid and leaving out operations among themselves (the consolidated credit flow of non-financial corporations), as a percentage of the debt they had at the end of the previous year, excluding foreign direct investment from both amounts?