LISBON: Portugal’s gross domestic product expanded by 1.5 percent over the course of 2015 whilst putting on 0.2 percent in the last quarter according to figures from the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
The INE reported that the 1.5 percent growth rate in 2015 came “after a rate of 0.9 percent in the year before, reflecting a less negative contribution from net external demand.” In quarterly terms, after stalling in the third quarter, the fourth quarter saw the economy return to expansion and advancing by 0.2 percent on the previous three months.
In annualised terms, the final quarter of 2015 saw growth of 1.2 percent with the INE identifying “the positive contribution made by internal demand to the year-on-year GDP figures sliding in the fourth quarter, reflecting, to a large extent, the deceleration in investment.”
The number crunchers also pointed to net external demand also making a lower level of contribution towards the growth following a “more intense deceleration in the import of goods and services than the export of those goods and services.”
This figure compares with the 1.6 percent growth forecast by the previous government in April of last year but spot on the nail with the figure included in this year’s state budget presented earlier this month as well as matching the International Monetary Fund expectations for 2015.
The annualised Portuguese GDP performance was level pegging with that of the Euro Zone that also turned in overall growth of 1.5 percent but drag ged behind the overall European Union performance that saw a 1.8 percent rise in GDP in 2015. Portugal’s 0.2 percent quarterly growth rate also fell behind the 0.3 percent registered in both of the aforementioned regions in the fourth quarter of last year.
