Purchasing power in Portugal increased to 82.4% of the European average in 2024, 1.3 percentage points above 2023, keeping the country in 15th position among the 20 countries in the euro zone and 18th in the European Union.
According to data released this Wednesday, 17th, by the National Statistics Institute (INE), between 2023 and 2024 the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ‘per capita’ of Portugal, expressed in Purchasing Power Parities (PPP), went from 81.1% to 82.4% of the European Union (EU) average, maintaining, however, the country’s positions in the European ‘rankings’ of these indicators.
With regard to ‘per capita’ Individual Consumption Expenditure, identified by INE as “a more appropriate indicator to reflect the well-being of families” (while GDPpc is mainly an indicator of the level of economic activity), it stood at 85.7% of the European Union average in 2024, 0.2 percentage points more than in the previous year.
In this indicator, Portugal occupied the 15th position in the euro zone and the 17th in the European Union, which compares with the 14th and 16th positions, respectively, in the previous year.
Last year, Portugal, with a GDP per capita index (GDPpc) of 82.4, maintained 15th position among the 19 Member States of the euro zone, below countries such as Lithuania (87.5), Slovenia (90.4) and Spain (91.2) and ahead of Estonia (79.0), Croatia (77.7) and Slovakia (74.6).
In nominal terms, Portugal’s GDPpc increased by 5.9% in 2024, determined by the nominal increase in GDP (7.1%), with the population increasing moderately compared to the previous year.
Overall, INE reports a “high dispersion” of the GDPpc volume indicator measured in PPP across the 27 EU Member States: Luxembourg (244.6) has the highest index among the 36 countries, corresponding to more than twice the EU27 average and almost four times higher than Bulgaria (65.9), the EU country with the lowest value.
The coefficient of variation of GDPpc in the 36 countries considered in the exercise was 45.1%, lower than the 46.2% recorded in 2023.
Between 2023 and 2024, INE says there were “significant variations” in GDPpc volume indices, measured in PPP, with reductions in 16 of the 36 countries analyzed, with the largest decreases being recorded in Norway (-8.5 percentage points), Iceland (-4.8 percentage points) and Luxembourg (-3.3 percentage points).
Conversely, the increases in GDPpc volume indices in Albania (4.0 percentage points), Ireland (3.7 percentage points) and the Netherlands and Serbia (3.1 percentage points) stand out.
Regarding ‘per capita’ Individual Consumption Expenditure (DCIpc), in 2024, for the 36 countries considered in the exercise, the coefficient of variation of this indicator was 25.8%, around 19 percentage points lower than that of GDPpc.
As INE explains, GDPpc, “as it integrates additional components subject to greater volatility, tends to present greater dispersion between countries when compared to DCIpc”.
Despite the smaller dispersion compared to GDPpc, the statistical institute still reports “substantial differences” in DCIpc between EU Member States.
INE warns that the results released today “should be analyzed with caution, particularly in terms of temporal evolution, since changes of different nature occur over time”.
At issue are, in particular, changes in the selection of the common basket of goods and services in comparison, the methods and sources of prices used in the PPC exercise and the review of national accounting values.