Portugal's economy explained: GDP data, market trends, business developments, inflation, real estate, and economic policy. Analysis of how economic trends affect daily life and expat finances.
INE's first-quarter international-trade release on Wednesday catches Portuguese goods exports falling 6.4% year-on-year while imports climb 2.6%, widening the trade deficit and confirming a more serious external slide than Q4 showed.
The latest Portugal news, analysis, and what it means for expats and residents.
The Centro Cultural de Belém opened the first edition of the Forum Portugal Nação Global on Wednesday — 634 participants from 43 countries, 415 B2B meetings, and 99 diaspora-led companies eyeing €500K-€5M tickets into Portugal.
Portuguese households parked a record €201.7 billion in resident-bank deposits at the end of March 2026 — annual growth accelerated to 4.8%, term deposits led the monthly bump, and non-financial-corporation deposits surged 11.6% year-on-year, the strongest pace since June 2022.
INE's April release shows consumer confidence at a 29-month low while the economic climate indicator rose, breaking three months of declines. Past household-finance assessments fell at the sharpest pace since the early-pandemic months of April and May 2020.
Santander Totta posted €242.4M Q1 net profit, down 9.8% YoY as net interest margin compressed 3.5%. Lending grew 10.8% to €56.2bn, the bank wrote one in five new Portuguese mortgages, and CET1 hit 15.6%. RoTE remained 31.4%, the highest in the system.
Intrum's 29th European Payment Report puts 60% of Portuguese firms on a late-because-late spiral. The B2B gap between contractual and actual payment dates has stretched from 16 days in 2023 to 20 in 2026, and 10.27% of company revenue now arrives behind schedule.
