The National Statistics Institute confirmed on Monday that Portuguese GDP recorded growth of 2.5% in the second quarter compared to the same period of the previous year, and a rise of 0.8% compared to the first three months of the year. This growth follows a timid increase between January and March, of just 0.1%.
INE emphasizes that the contribution of net external demand was decisive for this evolution, shifting from -2.0 percentage points of GDP to +0.7 percentage points, due to the acceleration of exports of goods and services and the slowdown of imports. Conversely, the contribution of domestic demand fell significantly to +0.1 percentage points, compared to +2.1 percentage points in the previous quarter, resulting mainly from the decrease in investment.
In year-on-year terms, the negative contribution of net external demand to GDP variation decreased from -2.3 to -1.3 percentage points, as the growth of exports of goods and services more than offset the acceleration of imports. On the other hand, the positive contribution of domestic demand decreased, dropping from 4.6 percentage points in the first quarter to 3.8 percentage points in the second quarter, mainly reflecting the slowdown in investment.
