Portugal’s Q4 GDP registered fourth largest fall in the EU
Portugal remains one of the countries most affected by the crisis, as the economy contracted by 5.9% in Q4 compared to 2019.
The Portuguese economy remains one of the European economies furthest from pre-crisis levels. According to Eurostat data released on Tuesday, the year-on-year fall in Portuguese GDP in Q4 (-5.9%) is the fourth largest in the European Union, only surpassed by Spain, Italy and Austria. However, there is one positive fact: Portugal recorded growth compared to Q3.
EU data shows Portugal’s Q4 GDP with Fourth largest fall
The data released by Eurostat updates more figures for European Union countries, but still leaves out six countries: Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Estonia and Croatia. With the inclusion of data from these countries, the conclusions presented here may be different. The complete data should be released on March 9.
Even so, it is already visible that Portugal continues to be one of the most affected by the pandemic, i.e., one of the countries in which the size of the economy is furthest from pre-crisis values. In year-on-year terms, GDP registers a negative variation of 5.9%, only surpassed by Spain (-9.1%), Austria (-7.8%) and Italy (-6.6%).
All other European countries have negative values, but these figures are better than Portugal’s, which reflects the average of the Euro Zone (-5%) and the European Union (-4.8%).
A comparison with Q3 is a different story. The Portuguese economy surprised on the upside and grew 0.4% in Q4 compared to Q3, maintaining the recovery of the economy (after the sharp fall in Q2). This growth is the ninth highest in the European Union, the fourth highest in the Eurozone, and is above the negative average for the Eurozone (-0.6%) and the EU (-0.4%).
