Portugal 4th for highest weight of interest paid in GDP

Desk Report: In 2023, Portugal recorded one of the highest values in the weight of interest paid in GDP (2.2%), surpassed only by Spain, Greece and Italy, while the euro area average was 1.7%.

In detailed data relating to public expenditure in 2023, INE notes that Portugal recorded last year “one of the highest values in the weight of interest paid in GDP (2.2%), being surpassed only by Spain, Greece, and Italy (with 2.5%, 3.5%, and 3.8%, respectively)”.

According to the institute, these countries “also presented a high level of public debt measured as a percentage of GDP”. In 2023, the euro area average was a weight of interest paid on GDP of 1.7%.

Data released by INE indicate that last year, Portugal paid around 5.7 billion euros in interest on its public debt, which represented an increase of 23.3% (around one billion euros ) compared to the 2022 value.

This evolution is attributed to the increase in interest rates, breaking the downward trend that began in 2015, the year following the conclusion of the Economic and Financial Assistance Program.

According to the statistical institute, the amount paid in interest in 2023 is close to that paid in 2020 (5.8 billion euros) and represents around two-thirds of the amount paid in 2014.

In the opposite direction of interest, the gross debt of public administrations (consolidated) showed, in 2023, a reduction of nine billion in its nominal value. The Portugal news.com

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