Portugal lagging in public investment

Desk Report: In the last 10 years, Portugal's level of public investment was just 2.1% of GDP per year, ranking at the top of the European countries with the lowest level of public investment.

In 2023, public investment totalled around 6.7 billion euros, equivalent to just 2.5% of GDP. Among the 20 countries in the Eurozone and the 27 Member States of the European Union, only Ireland had a lower level of gross fixed capital formation in public administration than Portugal last year, according to a report by ECO.

Over the last decade, Portugal has consistently been at the top of the table of European countries with the lowest level of public investment within the European framework.

According to Eurostat data, both in the last three and in the last five years, the average level of gross fixed capital formation of public administrations stood at 2.5% and 2.32% of GDP, respectively, remaining just above 2 .2% of GDP recorded by Ireland and far from the 3.2% ratio on average for Eurozone countries in these periods.

However, extending the analysis horizon to 2014 (10 years), no one beats Portugal with the lowest level of gross fixed capital formation in public administrations in the European Union. Since 2014, Portugal's level of public investment has been just 2.1% of GDP per year, less than a third of the average for the 27 European Member States.

The constant low numbers of public investment in Portugal over the last decade have translated, for example, into reduced levels of investment in the construction and maintenance of essential infrastructures for the country, such as railways, airports, schools, hospitals, and many others, which play a crucial role in the production function of the economy. Theportugalnews.com

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