Concept

Economy of Portugal

Summary
The economy of Portugal is ranked 34th in the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report for 2019. The great majority of the international trade is done within the European Union (EU), whose countries received 72.8% of the Portuguese exports and were the origin of 76.5% of the Portuguese imports in 2015. Other regional groups that are significant trade partners of Portugal are the NAFTA (6.3% of the exports and 2% of the imports), the PALOP (5.7% of the exports and 2.5% of the imports), the Maghreb (3.7% of the exports and 1.3% of the imports) and the Mercosul (1.4% of the exports and 2.5% of the imports). The Portuguese currency is the euro (€) and the country has been a part of the Eurozone since its inception. Portugal's central bank is the Banco de Portugal, which forms part of the European System of Central Banks, and the major stock exchange is the Euronext Lisbon, part of Euronext pan-European exchange. The Portuguese economy has been steady, expanding continuously since the third quarter of 2014, with a yearly GDP growth of 1.5% registered in the second quarter of 2015. The economy's growth has been accompanied by a continuous fall in the unemployment rate (6.3% in the first quarter of 2019, compared with 13.9% registered in the end of 2014). The government budget deficit has also been reduced from 11.2% of GDP in 2010 to 0.5% in 2018. These rates mark an inversion from the negative trends caused by the impact of the financial crisis of 2007–2008 in the Portuguese economy that made it to shrink for three consecutive years (2011, 2012, and 2013), accompanied by a high increase of the unemployment rate (that achieved a record of 17.7% in early 2013). The crisis has caused a wide range of domestic problems that are specifically related to the levels of public deficit, as well as the excessive debt levels, in the economy. The problems culminated in the confirmation from Portugal to a €78 billion financial bailout from the EU in April 2011, following similar decisions from Greece and the Republic of Ireland.
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