Portugal confirms GDP growth of 4.9% in 2021
"In 2021, GDP grew by 4.9%, in volume, the highest growth since 1990, following the historical decline of 8.4% in 2020," announced the Statistics Portugal (INE) this Monday.
It’s official: The Portuguese economy has grown 4.9% in 2021, announced the Statistics Portugal (INE) this Monday, which are in line with the flash estimate published in late January.
“In 2021, GDP grew by 4.9%, in volume, the highest growth since 1990, following the historical decline of 8.4% in 2020, which resulted from the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on economic activity,” INE detailed.
According to the statistics office, the 4.9% growth is explained, on the one hand, by the “significant positive contribution” of domestic demand, with a recovery of private consumption and investment, and, on the other, by the “significantly less negative” contribution of net external demand, “with exports and imports of goods and services growing significantly”.
It should be noted that this GDP growth is above the 4.8% previously forecast by the government in the State Budget for 2022, but also exceeds the projections of the main national and international institutions: the Bank of Portugal and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development pointed to a growth of 4.8%, the International Monetary Fund expected a rise of 4.4% and, at last, the European Commission forecast an increase of 4.5%.
