Portugal’s GDP recovers 13.3% in Q3, but drops 5.7% year-on-year
Portugal's GDP contracted 5.7% year-on-year in Q3 2020. However, compared to Q2, there was a significant recovery of 13.3%.
The National Statistics Institute (INE) confirmed on Monday that the Portuguese economy’s recovery was 13.3% quarter-on-quarter after a historical drop in Q2 due to the pandemic crisis. Despite the significant recovery, GDP continues to be 5.7% lower than in Q3 2019.
“This evolution was due, to a large extent, to domestic demand’s behaviour, which registered a significantly less negative contribution (shifting from -11.8 to -4.0 percentage points), mainly reflecting the strong recovery of private consumption, and, to a lower degree, of Investment and public consumption,” the statistics office explained.
At the same time, the contribution of net external demand was also less negative in the third quarter, with exports of goods and services recovering more significantly than imports. This is “mainly due to the evolution of exports of goods”, INE points out, as tourism continues to be conditioned by the pandemic.
The National Institute of Statistics explains that “These results correspond to the GDP preliminary estimates for the third quarter and reflect the effects of the progressive reopening of the economic activity, which followed the restrictive measures adopted to contain the spread of COVID-19 pandemic, with a strong economic impact, during the first two months of the second quarter.”
