Portuguese economy recorded second highest growth in EU in Q2

  • ECO News
  • 7 September 2021

The Portuguese economy grew 4.9% in the second quarter of this year, according to Eurostat.

The Portuguese economy grew by 4.9% in the second quarter of this year, compared to the previous one. This was the second-largest increase among European Union countries in the second quarter of 2021, according to data released by Eurostat this Tuesday.

Only Ireland is ahead of Portugal in terms of growth, with an increase of 6.3%. Completing the podium is Latvia (4.4%), closely followed by Estonia (4.3%). At the opposite end, decreases were observed in Malta (-0.5%) and Croatia (-0.2%).

Already when looking at the EU average, GDP increased by 2.1% in the second quarter of 2021 compared to the previous quarter. In the euro area, the quarter-on-quarter growth was 2.2%. This follows falls of 0.1% and 0.3%, respectively, in the first quarter of this year.

Household final consumption expenditure was one of the items that contributed most to the growth registered in the member states. During the second quarter of 2021, it increased by 3.7% in the Euro area and by 3.5% in the EU. Meanwhile, government final consumption expenditure increased by 1.2% in both zones.

As for the external balance, this ended up being practically neutral for both zones, with exports growing almost as much as imports. On the other hand, the contribution from changes in inventories was slightly negative for the euro area and neutral for the EU.