The INE confirmed that the The Portuguese economy grew by 2.6% in the first quarter, in line with the estimate that had already been advanced at the end of April. This is the growth compared to the previous quarter, in which Portugal stood out positively in the European context – year-on-year growth was 11.9%, highly influenced by the fact that compared to the first quarter of 2021 and the strong confinement due to the pandemic then
The quarter-on-quarter growth of 2.6% corresponds to an acceleration of the quarterly growth pace of 1.7% in the previous quarter (Q4 2021 compared to Q3).
Source: National Statistics Institute (INE)
“The chain acceleration of GDP was determined by the most positive contribution of demand internalreflecting the acceleration of private consumptionmainly due to the growth of expenses in various activities of servicesafter lifting most of the restrictions on economic activity imposed in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic,” says the INE, adding that “the contribution of net foreign demand remained slightly positive“.
However, it was the consumption of families that gave the greatest boost. This item grew 12.6% compared to the same period of the previous year, when compared to the first quarter of 2021. However, even compared to the previous quarter, there was an increase of 5.4%.
“Compared to the fourth quarter, private consumption increased by 2.1% (chain variation of 1.1% in the previous quarter), with a 6.4% growth in spending on durable goods and 1.7% in spending on non-durable goods and services”, says the INE. Durable goods are products whose estimated life is greater than two years, such as a car or an appliance.
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Source: Observadora
