Portuguese GDP per capita shrinks. 4th lowest in the Eurozone

  • ECO News
  • 13 December 2018

Portugal is ahead of Slovakia, Greece, and Lithuania. The decrease happens in a year when the GDP increased to its highest level since 2000 and despite the government's redistribution policy.

Portuguese GDP per capita in 2017 was very low in comparison to its Eurozone counterparts. According to the Office for National Statistics, the wealth per inhabitant shrank, which made Portugal the country with the fourth lowest GDP per capita at the EA19 level.

In Portugal, last year, GDP per capita stood at 76.6%, a value below that of 2016 (77.2%). This decrease is not, however, exclusively a Portuguese issue, given that there are other countries in the Eurozone which registered the same drop, but it did leave Portugal at the bottom of the ranking. Between the 19 members of the Eurogroup, Portuguese GDP per capita was the 16th worst.

After Portugal, Estonia (78.8%), Lithuania (78.4%) and Greece followed.

This decrease happens precisely in a year when the GDP growth in the country reached the highest level since 2000. In 2017, the country recorded a 2.3% GDP growth rate, meaning that despite the increase in GDP, there was no improvement in wealth redistribution.

Besides, the Portuguese government continued developing a wealth redistribution strategy — with measures such as the increase in the minimum wage, which went from 530 euros in 2016 to 557 euros in 2017.