Portugal’s economy spiked in the last week of July
Portugal's economic activity spiked in the last week of July, just before the government started a gradual relaxation of the Covid-19 restrictions.
The Portuguese economy continues to grow compared to 2020 and that same growth even spiked last week, according to the Bank of Portugal (BoP) indicator released on Thursday. It is expected to keep this trend in the coming weeks due to the gradual loosening of Covid-19 restrictions in Portugal.
“In the week ended on August 1st, the daily economic indicator (DEI) and the corresponding biennial rate increased compared to the previous week,” the central bank reveals. This period preceded the gradual relaxation of the restrictions that began on August 1, the first phase of the new deconfinement process, with greater reliance on the EU Digital Covid Certificate.
In calculating the DEI, the BoP incorporates a series of data that reflect various components of Portugal’s economic activity, such as “road traffic of heavy commercial vehicles on motorways, electricity and natural gas consumption, cargo and mail landed at national airports, and card-based payments in Portugal by residents and non-residents”. It is a daily indicator, even though it is only released on Thursdays. In contrast, the most common indicator, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), is only updated quarterly.
The DEI compares the economic activity of a given day with that of the same day before (regardless of whether they are different days of the week).
The next release is scheduled for August 12.
