On December 7th, Portugal made news in several international media because The Economist magazine highlighted the country as the best performing economy in 2025, among 36 mostly developed countries. The combination of GDP growth above the European average, controlled inflation and appreciation of the national stock market guaranteed us the top spot on the podium.
The Prime Minister congratulated himself, the candidates for the presidency of the Republic congratulated themselves, the Tourism sector congratulated themselves, many commentators congratulated themselves… it would be a great Christmas gift, if it weren’t for everyone. Unsurprisingly, the common mortal who lives in this country asked what this economy is.
It must be said, first of all, that the data is correct: growth is accelerated, prices are stabilized, we are practically at full employment, tourism continues to boost the economy – largely due to the ‘export’ indicator, foreign investment has given impetus to some sectors.
But there are other data that are also correct: around 2.1 million people remain in poverty (one in five people) and, among the elderly, 22.3% of retirees are at risk of poverty or social exclusion, according to the most recent data from the European Anti-Poverty Network.
When we look at extreme poverty, our eyebrows must remain frowned: 10.4% of the resident population has been in this situation since 2023: one in ten families lives on less than 300 euros per month. And the number of homeless people in Portugal increased by 1,348, to 14,476, between 2023 and 2024.
But there is more: in 2023, there were 9.2% of poor workers in Portugal, almost double the objective set out in the National Strategy to Combat Poverty, set at 5%. In other words, even with high participation in the labor market, a family can live in poverty.
We can also look at what is happening in health – where the NHS has closed emergency rooms, long waiting times and service failures when millions of people have no alternative; and private companies increase prices, just like insurance companies that sell health insurance.
And we also have recent calculations by the European Commission, which reveal that housing prices in Portugal are overvalued by 25% and the family price-income ratio is more than 20% above the levels of a decade ago.
After all, the pastel de nata mentioned in The Economist has much less sugar for most Portuguese people. Because while the indicators give governments ammunition to maintain the policies that put us on the international stage, the truth is that ordinary citizens have found life more difficult, more expensive and more uncertain.
In the time we have left until the end of 2025, perhaps it would be good to take the opportunity to think seriously about this: would we rather have the cover of The Economist or have a more industrialized, more productive, richer and less unequal country?
Let us look to 2026 with hope, dear reader, in the certainty that only by all of us rowing in the same direction will we be able to reach the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. And let us not lose hope, because it is what will make us have a better year than the one we now leave behind!