Portugal slips in EU wealth-per-head ranking

Portugal has fallen in the European ranking for GDP per capita after the national statistics office INE revised the country’s resident population up to 11.4 million in 2025, according to ECO calculations based on the new data. The change lowers Portugal’s relative prosperity measure against the EU average, a key benchmark for economic convergence.

Using the revised population estimate of 11,424,031 residents at December 31, 2025, ECO recalculated Portugal’s 2025 GDP per capita and found that the country would fall from 81% to 76.6% of the EU average in purchasing power standards, the Eurostat measure used to compare living standards across member states. On that basis, Portugal would move from 18th to 22nd place in the EU ranking, while its level relative to the euro zone average would drop from 78.6% to about 74.4%.

The revision does not mean Portugal became poorer overnight, but that the country’s annual output is now being divided by a larger resident population than previously captured. INE said the new estimates are based on administrative data supplied by AIMA and revised the 2021-2024 series using the same methodology.

Eurostat’s preliminary estimates published in March had placed Portugal at 81% of the EU average in 2025, based on GDP and population data extracted on March 11, 2026, with a revision scheduled for June. ECO’s simulation suggests that, once the new denominator is applied, Portugal’s recent narrative of economic convergence with Europe looks weaker than previously indicated.

The population revision also points to the scale of immigration in Portugal. INE estimates that 1,597,539 foreign nationals were living in the country at the end of 2025, or 14% of the resident population. Although growth in the foreign population slowed sharply in 2025, positive net migration still offset a negative natural balance and kept the total population rising.

Originally published at Eco.pt