Portugal has become a diversified and increasingly service-based economy since joining the European Community - the EU's predecessor - in 1986. Over the following two decades, successive governments privatized many state-controlled firms and liberalized key areas of the economy, including the financial and telecommunications sectors. The country joined the Economic and Monetary Union in 1999 and began circulating the euro on 1 January 2002 along with 11 other EU members.
The economy grew by more than the EU average for much of the 1990s, but the rate of growth slowed in 2001-08. After the global financial crisis in 2008, Portugal’s economy contracted in 2009 and fell into recession from 2011 to 2013, as the government implemented spending cuts and tax increases to comply with conditions of an EU-IMF financial rescue package, signed in May 2011. Portugal successfully exited its EU-IMF program in May 2014, and its economic recovery gained traction in 2015 because of strong exports and a rebound in private consumption. GDP growth accelerated in 2016, and probably reached 2.5 % in 2017. Unemployment remained high, at 9.7% in 2017, but has improved steadily since peaking at 18% in 2013.
The center-left minority Socialist government has unwound some unpopular austerity measures while managing to remain within most EU fiscal targets. The budget deficit fell from 11.2% of GDP in 2010 to 1.8% in 2017, the country’s lowest since democracy was restored in 1974, and surpassing the EU and IMF projections of 3%. Portugal exited the EU’s excessive deficit procedure in mid-2017.
2.24% (2019 est.)
2.85% (2018 est.)
3.51% (2017 est.)
0.3% (2019 est.)
0.9% (2018 est.)
1.3% (2017 est.)
Fitch rating: BBB (2007)
Moody's rating: Baa3 (2018)
Standard & Poors rating: BBB (2019)
$358.344 billion (2019 est.)
$350.507 billion (2018 est.)
$340.796 billion (2017 est.)
note: data are in 2010 dollars
$237.698 billion (2019 est.)
$34,894 (2019 est.)
$34,083 (2018 est.)
$33,086 (2017 est.)
note: data are in 2010 dollars
18.9% of GDP (2019 est.)
18.3% of GDP (2018 est.)
18% of GDP (2017 est.)
agriculture: 2.2% (2017 est.)
industry: 22.1% (2017 est.)
services: 75.7% (2017 est.)
household consumption: 65.1% (2017 est.)
government consumption: 17.6% (2017 est.)
investment in fixed capital: 16.2% (2017 est.)
investment in inventories: 0.1% (2017 est.)
exports of goods and services: 43.1% (2017 est.)
imports of goods and services: -42.1% (2017 est.)
Overall score: 76.5 (2020)
Starting a Business score: 90.9 (2020)
Trading score: 100 (2020)
Enforcement score: 67.9 (2020)
milk, tomatoes, olives, grapes, maize, potatoes, pork, apples, oranges, poultry
textiles, clothing, footwear, wood and cork, paper and pulp, chemicals, fuels and lubricants, automobiles and auto parts, base metals, minerals, porcelain and ceramics, glassware, technology, telecommunications; dairy products, wine, other foodstuffs; ship construction and refurbishment; tourism, plastics, financial services, optics
3.5% (2017 est.)
4.717 million (2020 est.)
agriculture: 8.6%
industry: 23.9%
services: 67.5% (2014 est.)
6.55% (2019 est.)
7.05% (2018 est.)
17.2% (2018 est.)
33.8 (2017 est.)
34 (2014 est.)
lowest 10%: 2.6%
highest 10%: 25.9% (2015 est.)
revenues: 93.55 billion (2017 est.)
expenditures: 100 billion (2017 est.)
42.9% (of GDP) (2017 est.)
-3% (of GDP) (2017 est.)
125.7% of GDP (2017 est.)
129.9% of GDP (2016 est.)
note: data cover general government debt and include debt instruments issued (or owned) by government entities other than the treasury; the data include treasury debt held by foreign entities; the data include debt issued by subnational entities, as well as intragovernmental debt; intragovernmental debt consists of treasury borrowings from surpluses in the social funds, such as for retirement, medical care, and unemployment; debt instruments for the social funds are not sold at public auctions
calendar year
-$203 million (2019 est.)
$988 million (2018 est.)
$114.512 billion (2019 est.)
$110.591 billion (2018 est.)
$106.201 billion (2017 est.)
Spain 23%, France 13%, Germany 12%, United Kingdom 6%, United States 5% (2019)
cars and vehicle parts, refined petroleum, leather footwear, paper products, tires (2019)
$120.334 billion (2019 est.)
$114.957 billion (2018 est.)
$109.515 billion (2017 est.)
Spain 29%, Germany 13%, France 9%, Italy 5%, Netherlands 5% (2019)
cars and vehicle parts, crude petroleum, aircraft, packaged medicines, refined petroleum, natural gas (2019)
$26.11 billion (31 December 2017 est.)
$19.4 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
$462.431 billion (2019 est.)
$483.206 billion (2018 est.)
euros (EUR) per US dollar -
0.82771 (2020 est.)
0.90338 (2019 est.)
0.87789 (2018 est.)
0.7525 (2014 est.)
0.7634 (2013 est.)
NOTE: The information regarding Portugal on this page is re-published from the 2021 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Portugal 2021 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Portugal 2021 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.
This page was last modified 16 Dec 23, Copyright © 2023 ITA all rights reserved.