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Portugal Economy
Gross Domestic Product (GDP): purchasing power
equivalent--estimated at US$87.3 in 1991 (US$8,400 per
capita).
Economy stagnant during second half of 1970s and first
half of
1980s because of world economic slump and extensive
nationalizations during revolution of mid-1970s. Between
1986 and
1990, GDP grew at 4.6 percent each year.
Agriculture: Made up 6.2 percent of GDP and
employed
about 17.8 percent of labor force in 1990. Small farms in
north,
larger farms in the south; productivity and mechanization
below European Community
(EC--see Glossary)
levels; imports more than
half of food needs. Major crops: grain, corn, rice
potatoes, olives, grapes, cork; important livestock: pigs, cattle,
sheep,
and chickens; dairy farms mostly in north. EC membership
threated
long-term servival of southern grain-growing and
cattle-raising
farms; farms producing rice, vegetables, and wine likely
to fare
well.
Industry: 38.4 percent of GDP in 1990.
Concentrated in
two regions: Lisbon-Setúbal, much heavy industry (steel,
ship
building, oil refineries, chemicals); and
Porto-Aveiro-Braga,
mostly light industry (textiles, footwear, wine, food
processing). Ownership of industries varies: light
industry
usually privately owned; heavy industry often state owned;
high
technology manufacturing often foreign owned.
Services: 55.5 percent of GDP in 1990; accounted
for 47
percent of work force. Tourism important component of
service
sector; 19.6 million visitors in 1991.
Imports: In 1990 imports of goods and services
accounted for about 47 percent of GDP. Manufactured goods
(machinery, transport equipment, chemicals) accounted for
about
75 percent of merchandise imports, food and beverages for
about
10 percent, and raw materials (mostly petroleum) for about
16
percent.
Exports: in 1990 exports of goods and services
accounted for about 37 percent of GDP. Manufactured goods
accounted for 80 percent of merchandise exports in 1989.
In 1990
textiles, clothing, and footwear made up 37 of total
export
value; machinery and transport equipment, 20 percent;
forest
products, 14 percent; and agricultural products, 8
percent.
Major Trade Partners: EC major trading partner,
buying
74 percent of Portugal's exports in 1990, and supplying 69
percent of its imports. Germany and Spain the most
important
trading partners. Only 3.4 percent of Portugal's imports
in 1990
came from the United States; Organization of Petroleum
Exporting
Countries (OPEC) accounted for less than 7 percent.
Balance of Payments: Despite negative trade
balences,
large earnings from tourism and remittances from
Portuguese
living abroad, in addition to direct foreign investment
and EC
tranfers, resulted in generally favorable balances of
payments
(US$4.6 billion in 1989, US$3.5 billion in 1990).
Exchange Rate: in March 1992, 143.09 escudos
(Esc--see Glossary)
per US$1.
Fiscal Year: Calendar year.
Data as of January 1993
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