Portugal’s economic recovery has come to a halt in November

The National Statistics Institute (INE) revealed on Monday that in November there’s been an interruption in the partial recovery in Portugal’s economic activity for the first time since May, when the effects of the first wave of the pandemic led to an abrupt reduction.

“In Portugal, not considering three-months moving average, the information available for November reveals an interruption in the partial recovery in economic activity observed since May, with a slower pace in September and October,” said the INE in the Monthly Economic Survey.

Both the consumer confidence indicator and the economic climate indicator declined in November. “Confidence indicators decreased in all sectors, Construction and Public Works, Trade, Services and Manufacturing Industry, more pronouncedly in the first case,” the statistics office explained.

There are also micro-economic data that illustrate this interruption: withdrawals and payments through ATMs fell 11.8% in November, year-on-year, and 6.3% compared to October. In addition, car sales fell 27.9% year-on-year, exacerbating the fall recorded in October (-12.6%). In addition, the average consumption of electricity on working days recorded a year-on-year change of -3.8% in November, compared with rates of -1.7% and -1.6% in September and October respectively.

In the euro area, the economic sentiment indicator also declined “significantly” in November, according to INE, because of the “the deterioration of the confidence in retail trade and services, as well as the decline of the consumer confidence indicator. In construction and industry, confidence indicators also decreased, but more moderately compared to the other sectors.”