Portugal loses €400 million in foreign direct investment in the first half of the year
Figures released on Tuesday by the Bank of Portugal reveal that the contraction compares with the positive result of €3.5 billion recorded in the same period last year.
Portugal lost €400 million in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first half of the year, mainly due to performance in the first three months of the year. Figures released on Tuesday by the Bank of Portugal show that the contraction compares with the positive result of €3.5 billion recorded in the same period last year.
The entity led by Mário Centeno explains that the negative FDI transactions of €0.4 billion are mainly the result of the “reduction in the debt of resident entities to non-resident companies in the same economic group (-€1.6 billion)”, which results from “a change in these liabilities to the functional category of ‘portfolio investment’, since, according to the statistical methodology in force, there is no longer a direct investment relationship”.
The first quarter result reflects the balance of a negative transaction result of around €1 billion in the first quarter, compared to a positive result of €662 million in the second quarter.
The Bank of Portugal also reveals that, from an immediate counterpart perspective, the reduction in FDI was mainly due to mainland Europe. In this regard, it highlights the decrease in “investment from Spain (-€2.1 billion), which was partially offset by increases in investment from Switzerland (+€0.8 billion), the United States (+€0.3 billion), Italy (+€0.2 billion) and Belgium (+€0.2 billion)”.
On the other hand, in the first half of 2025, Portugal’s investment transactions abroad totalled €2.6 billion, compared to €2.4 billion in the same period last year.
From an immediate counterpart perspective, “investment in entities resident in European countries stood out, mainly in Spain (€0.7 billion), the Netherlands (€0.7 billion) and France (€0.5 billion)”.
