Economy - overview:
Portugal has become a diversified and increasingly service-based
economy since joining the European Community in 1986. Over the past
decade, successive governments have privatized many state-controlled
firms and liberalized key areas of the economy, including the
financial and telecommunications sectors. The country qualified for
the European Monetary Union (EMU) in 1998 and began circulating the
euro on 1 January 2002 along with 11 other EU member economies.
Economic growth has been above the EU average for much of the past
decade, but fell back in 2001-03. GDP per capita stands at 70% of
that of the leading EU economies. A poor educational system, in
particular, has been an obstacle to greater productivity and growth.
Portugal has been increasingly overshadowed by lower-cost producers
in Central Europe and Asia as a target for foreign direct
investment. The coalition government faces tough choices in its
attempts to boost Portugal's economic competitiveness and to keep
the budget deficit within the 3% EU ceiling.
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $195.2 billion (2002 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
0.4% (2002 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $19,400 (2002 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 3.6%
industry: 28.7%
services: 67.7% (2001)
Population below poverty line:
NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 3.1%
highest 10%: 28.4% (1995 est.)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
35.6 (1994-95)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
3.7% (2002 est.)
Labor force:
5.1 million (2000)
Labor force - by occupation:
services 60%, industry 30%, agriculture 10% (1999 est.)
Unemployment rate:
4.7% (2002 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $45 billion
expenditures: $48 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA
(2001 est.)
Industries:
textiles and footwear; wood pulp, paper, and cork; metalworking;
oil refining; chemicals; fish canning; wine; tourism
Industrial production growth rate:
1.5% (2002 est.)
Electricity - production:
44.32 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 64.5%
hydro: 31.3%
other: 4.1% (2001)
nuclear: 0%
Electricity - consumption:
41.48 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports:
3.479 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports:
3.743 billion kWh (2001)
Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption:
339,800 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports:
28,830 bbl/day (2001)
Oil - imports:
357,300 bbl/day (2001)
Natural gas - production:
0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - consumption:
2.542 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - imports:
2.553 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Agriculture - products:
grain, potatoes, olives, grapes; sheep, cattle, goats, poultry,
beef, dairy products
Exports:
$25.9 billion f.o.b. (2001)
Exports - commodities:
clothing and footwear, machinery, chemicals, cork and paper
products, hides
Exports - partners:
Spain 20.3%, Germany 18.4%, France 12.6%, UK 10.5%, US 5.8%, Italy
4.8%, Belgium 4.5% (2002)
Imports:
$39 billion f.o.b. (2001)
Imports - commodities:
machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, petroleum, textiles,
agricultural products
Imports - partners:
Spain 28.1%, Germany 15%, France 10.2%, Italy 6.5%, UK 5.2%,
Netherlands 4.5% (2002)
Debt - external:
$13.1 billion (1997 est.)
Economic aid - donor:
ODA, $271 million (1995)
Currency:
euro (EUR)
note: on 1 January 1999, the European Monetary Union introduced the
euro as a common currency to be used by financial institutions of
member countries; on 1 January 2002, the euro became the sole
currency for everyday transactions within the member countries
Currency code:
EUR
Exchange rates:
euros per US dollar - 1.06 (2002), 1.12 (2001), 1.09 (2000), 0.94
(1999)
Fiscal year:
calendar year