In the year of the troika’s adjustment and austerity program exit, in 2014, Portugal was the 18th richest country and with the highest well-being measured through the indicator of expenditure made by Portuguese families (per capita, per household). Ten years later, in 2024, the country dropped two places in this ranking, being overtaken by Lithuania and Slovenia, show DN calculations based on data released this Wednesday by the National Statistics Institute (INE).
The group of Portuguese families is now closer to the average for Europe, the European Union and the Euro Zone, it has improved, of course.
But looking at the general picture, other countries recovered or increased income and expenses more quickly, surpassing Portugal, shows the INE study.
In the case of Portugal, the level of “Individual Consumption Expenditure per capita, which constitutes a more appropriate indicator to reflect the well-being of families”, according to INE terms, stood at 85.7% of the European Union average last year. In 2014, it was 82.6%.
However, the spark in convergence and progress was greatest in Lithuania (whose indicator relating to household income well-being) is already 88.1% of the European average. Slovenia also surpasses Portugal with 85.9% of the average.
The ranking made by INE for this indicator, which covers the 27 EU and other European and contiguous countries, in a total of 36 nations, is led by Luxembourg (146%), Norway (120.9%) and the Netherlands (120.3%) and Germany (119.3%).
The families in the worst position are Albanians (46.7%) and Bosniaks (42%). In the EU, in last place are Latvia (72.1%) and Hungary (72.5%).
In addition to the indicator that measures household expenditure, INE (as well as Eurostat) measures the performance of economies as a whole through Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita corrected to reflect purchasing power capacity. It is the most comparable in international, European terms.
According to the institute, in 2024, “Portugal’s Gross Domestic Product per capita, expressed in Purchasing Power Parities (PPP), stood at 82.4% of the European Union average, a value 1.3 percentage points (pp) higher than that recorded in 2023 (81.1%)”.
Thus, Portugal occupied “15th position among the 20 countries in the Euro Zone and 18th in the European Union, maintaining the same positions as in the previous year”.
The aforementioned “Individual Consumption Expenditure per capita”, the most appropriate indicator to reflect the financial well-being of families, “stood at 85.7% of the European Union average, 0.2 pp higher than that observed in the previous year, occupying the 15th position in the Euro Zone and the 17th in the European Union (14th and 16th positions, respectively, in the previous year)”, says INE.
In a separate study, also released this Wednesdaythe reality of the Portuguese economy appears to be very different, depending on the regions considered.
According to INE, “in real terms, Portuguese GDP grew 2.1% in 2024, with slightly different variations between regions”.
At the bottom, “it is estimated that Alentejo (1.1%) and the Autonomous Region of Madeira (1.5%) recorded the weakest performances”.
“In the remaining territory, the evolution was close to the national average, with the Center equaling the country, the West and Tagus Valley, Greater Lisbon and the Setúbal Peninsula slightly surpassing (0.1 percentage points – pp) the national average and the remaining regions (North, Algarve and the Autonomous Region of the Azores) showing growth 0.2 pp higher than the country”.
However, unlike what happened in 2023, in which there was a worsening of the regional disparity in GDP per capita, in 2024, the results indicate a slight reduction, with the difference between the region with the highest index, (Greater Lisbon) and the lowest (Península de Setúbal), going from 89.8 pp to 89.2 pp”.
Greater Lisbon continues to be the richest region
“GDP per capita in purchasing power parities in Greater Lisbon once again surpassed the EU27 average, reaching 128.9%”, but in the remaining regions, except Alentejo, which maintained the 2023 index (77.1%), they approached the European average”.
“The Algarve reached 89.2%, the Autonomous Region of Madeira 88.3%, the Autonomous Region of the Azores 72.5%, the Center 70.7% and the North 70.8%. Despite also converging, the West and Tagus Valley (64.6%) and the Setúbal Peninsula (55.4%) continue to present the lowest levels of GDP per capita compared to the European average”, refers to the same work by INE.