| Economy - overview | Portugal has become a diversified and increasingly service-based economy since joining the European Community in 1986. Over the past two decades, 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 European Monetary Union (EMU) in 1998 and began circulating the euro on 1 January 2002 along with 11 other EU member economies. Economic growth had been above the EU average for much of the 1990s, but fell back in 2001-06. GDP per capita stands at roughly two-thirds of the EU-25 average. 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 budget deficit surged to an all-time high of 6% of GDP in 2005 but was reduced to 4.6% in 2006. The government faces tough choices in its attempts to boost Portugal's economic competitiveness while keeping the budget deficit within the eurozone's 3%-of-GDP ceiling. |
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| GDP | 2.3% (2005 est.) |
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| GDP - real growth rate | 1.3% (2006 est.) |
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| GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 6.6%
industry: 28.6%
services: 64.9% (2006 est.) |
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| Population below poverty line | NA% |
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Household income or consumption
by percentage share | lowest 10%: 3.1%
highest 10%: 28.4% (1995 est.) |
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Distribution of family income
- Gini index | 38.5 (1997) |
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| Labor force | 5.58 million (2006) |
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| Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 10%
industry: 30%
services: 60% (2001 est.) |
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| Unemployment rate | 7.6% (2006 est.) |
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| Budget | revenues: $83.89 billion
expenditures: $93.09 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2006 est.) |
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| Industries | textiles and footwear; wood pulp, paper, and cork; metals and metalworking; oil refining; chemicals; fish canning; rubber and plastic products; ceramics; electronics and communications equipment; rail transportation equipment; aerospace equipment; ship construction and refurbishment; wine; tourism |
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| Industrial production growth rate | 0.9% (2006 est.) |
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Electricity -
production | 42.52 billion kWh (2004) |
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Electricity -
production by source | fossil fuel: 64.5%
hydro: 31.3%
nuclear: 0%
other: 4.1% (2001) |
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Electricity -
consumption | 46.05 billion kWh (2004) |
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Electricity -
exports | 2.1 billion kWh (2004) |
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Electricity -
imports | 8.6 billion kWh (2004) |
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| Oil - production | NA bbl/day |
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| Oil - consumption | 332,000 bbl/day (2004) |
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| Oil - exports | 35,400 bbl/day (2003) |
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| Oil - imports | 106,200 bbl/day (2003) |
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| Agriculture - products | grain, potatoes, tomatoes, olives, grapes; sheep, cattle, goats, swine, poultry, dairy products; fish |
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| Exports | $46.77 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) |
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| Exports - commodities | clothing and footwear, machinery, chemicals, cork and paper products, hides |
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| Exports - partners | Spain 25.9%, France 13.1%, Germany 11.9%, UK 8%, US 5.4%, Italy 4.3% (2005) |
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| Imports | $67.74 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) |
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| Imports - commodities | machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, petroleum, textiles, agricultural products |
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| Imports - partners | Spain 29%, Germany 13.4%, France 8.5%, Italy 5.2%, Netherlands 4.3%, UK 4.2% (2005) |
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| Debt - external | $272.2 billion (30 September 2006 est.) |
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| Currency code | EUR |
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| Exchange rates | euros per US dollar - 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004), 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002) |
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| Fiscal year | calendar year |
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