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.
📋 In This Edition * Market Wrap: Utilities Lift the PSI to a 0.6% Gain * The Movers: EDP and Galp Lead, Jerónimo Martins Slips * Business & Tech Focus: Sonae Eyes Malls, Mobi.E
Primark will open two more Portuguese stores next month as part of a €45 million plan to add outlets and create some 300 jobs — including its first street-front shop in Portugal, on Porto's Rua de Santa Catarina.
A Portuguese court has annulled €5.5 million in price-fixing fines tied to the long-running Sogrape case, in which the Competition Authority penalised five supermarket chains and the supplier over an alleged 'hub-and-spoke' scheme. Regulators can still appeal.
Jerónimo Martins, owner of Pingo Doce, said around 200 of its Ara supermarkets in Colombia closed after a magnitude 7.4 earthquake killed well over 100 people. Ara is now a major part of the Lisbon-listed group, with more than 1,500 stores and €3.2 billion in 2025 sales.
The number of workers in Portugal taking home over €3,000 net a month has quadrupled since 2016 to 125,000, according to a Randstad analysis. Yet the largest group still earns €900 to €1,200, and two-thirds of the top earners are in Greater Lisbon and the North.
Ten months after Finance Minister Miranda Sarmento promised a new, constitutionally sound tax on Portugal's banks, no draft has appeared and the government won't explain the delay — even as the sector posts record profits above 5 billion euros.
New-home construction costs rose 7.2% year-on-year in June, the fastest pace of 2026, INE data show. Labour climbed 8.0% and now adds more to the bill than materials (up 6.5%), pushing the floor under Portugal's record house prices even higher.
