Economy - overview: | Portugal has become a diversified and increasingly service-based economy since joining the European Community in 1986. Over the past decade, successive governments have privatized many state-controlled firms and liberalized key areas of the economy, including the financial and telecommunications sectors. The country qualified for the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) in 1998 and began circulating the euro on 1 January 2002 along with 11 other EU member economies. Economic growth has been above the EU average for much of the past decade, but fell back in 2001-03. GDP per capita stands at 70% of that of the leading EU economies. A poor educational system, in particular, has been an obstacle to greater productivity and growth. Portugal has been increasingly overshadowed by lower-cost producers in Central Europe and Asia as a target for foreign direct investment. The coalition government faces tough choices in its attempts to boost Portugal's economic competitiveness and to keep the budget deficit within the 3% EU ceiling. |
| GDP: | purchasing power parity - $181.8 billion (2004 est.) |
| GDP - real growth rate: | -1.3% (2004 est.) |
| GDP - per capita: | purchasing power parity - $18,000 (2004 est.) |
| GDP - composition by sector: | agriculture: 5.8%
industry: 30.7%
services: 63.2% (2004 est.) |
| Investment (gross fixed): | 22.3% of GDP (2004 est.) |
| Population below poverty line: | NA |
| Household income or consumption by percentage share: | lowest 10%: 3.1%
highest 10%: 28.4% (1995 est.) |
| Distribution of family income - Gini index: | 35.6 (1994-95) |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices): | 3.3% (2004 est.) |
| Labor force: | 5.409 million (2004 est.) |
| Labor force - by occupation: | agriculture 10%, industry 30%, services 60% (1999 est.) |
| Unemployment rate: | 6.4% (2004 est.) |
| Budget: | revenues: $64.81 billion
expenditures: $69.09 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.) |
| Public debt: | 59.8% of GDP (2004 est.) |
| Agriculture - products: | grain, potatoes, olives, grapes; sheep, cattle, goats, poultry, beef, dairy products |
| Industries: | textiles and footwear; wood pulp, paper, and cork; metalworking; oil refining; chemicals; fish canning; wine; tourism |
| Industrial production growth rate: | 0.4% (2004 est.) |
| Electricity - production: | 44.32 billion kWh (2001) |
| Electricity - consumption: | 41.48 billion kWh (2001) |
| Electricity - exports: | 3.479 billion kWh (2001) |
| Electricity - imports: | 3.743 billion kWh (2001) |
| Oil - production: | 0 bbl/day (2001 est.) |
| Oil - consumption: | 339,800 bbl/day (2001 est.) |
| Oil - exports: | 28,830 bbl/day (2001) |
| Oil - imports: | 357,300 bbl/day (2001) |
| Natural gas - production: | 0 cu m (2001 est.) |
| Natural gas - consumption: | 2.542 billion cu m (2001 est.) |
| Natural gas - exports: | 0 cu m (2001 est.) |
| Natural gas - imports: | 2.553 billion cu m (2001 est.) |
| Current account balance: | $-7.592 billion (2004 est.) |
| Exports: | $31.13 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.) |
| Exports - commodities: | clothing and footwear, machinery, chemicals, cork and paper products, hides |
| Exports - partners: | Spain 22.7%, Germany 15.2%, France 12.9%, UK 10.5%, US 5.8%, Italy 4.8%, Belgium 4.6% (2003) |
| Imports: | $43.73 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.) |
| Imports - commodities: | machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, petroleum, textiles, agricultural products |
| Imports - partners: | Spain 29.1%, Germany 14.7%, France 9.9%, Italy 6.4%, UK 4.9%, Netherlands 4.6% (2003) |
| Reserves of foreign exchange & gold: | $12.81 billion (2004 est.) |
| Debt - external: | $250.7 billion (2004 est.) |
| Economic aid - donor: | ODA, $271 million (1995) |
| Currency: | euro (EUR)
note: on 1 January 1999, the European Monetary Union introduced the euro as a common currency to be used by financial institutions of member countries; on 1 January 2002, the euro became the sole currency for everyday transactions within the member countries |
| Currency code: | EUR |
| Exchange rates: | euros per US dollar - 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001), 1.0854 (2000), 0.9386 (1999) |
| Fiscal year: | calendar year
Source: CIA World Factbook
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