Portugal’s economic growth is above the European Union

Portugal remains one of the European Union countries with the strongest growth according to data disclosed yesterday by Eurostat, the EU’s official statistics body.

The data for the 13 EU countries for which there are GDP results for the third quarter of 2023 indicate an average change of 0.1% for the same period when compared to 2022. This means that Portugal, with a 1.9% growth rate, is the country growing the most in front of Spain (1.8%) and Belgium (1.5%).

When compared to the previous quarter and according to data from the Portuguese Statistics Office (INE), GDP contracted slightly (-0.2%). If growth keeps at the same pace in the fourth quarter of this year, Portugal will end the year with GDP growth of around 2%.

Tax burden below EU average

Yesterday also, the Eurostat published data on the tax burden of the EU countries in 2022, which placed Portugal below the European average.

The average tax burden in the EU in 2022, including tax revenue and social benefits, was 41.2%, whereas it was 38% in our country.

France (48%), Belgium (45.6%) and Austria (43.6%) are the countries with greatest tax burden in the EU. Ireland (21.7%), Romania (27.5%), and Malta (29.6%) are on the opposite side of the chart.

Fuels and food break inflation

Lastly, the INE disclosed its quick estimate on inflation for October, which points to a rate of 2.1%, when in the previous month it was at 3.6%. This is the lowest inflation rate of the last two years.

Eurostat data indicated a similar movement in the European Union with the inflation rate for October at 2.9%, below the 4.3% registered in September. Portugal has the 9th lowest inflation rate in Europe (IHPC).

In Portugal and the EU, the drop in inflation is strongly influenced by the cuts in the price of fuels and foodstuffs.