In the third quarter, only four EU economies grew less than the Portuguese, but two of the most important are among them: Germany and Italy. Portugal tied at 17th with four others.
The Portuguese economy grew by 0.3% in the third quarter of the year, a significant slowdown from the 0.6% growth seen in the first two quarters of the year. Portugal grew in line with the average of the European Union, and one tenth more than the average of the euro countries, but only four economies grew at a slower pace than the Portuguese economy, among them the economies of Germany and Italy, the largest and third largest economies of the euro.
Eurostat published this Thursday the economic growth data of the countries of the European Union in the third quarter of the year. With 25 countries with available data, 16 economies were growing at a faster pace than the Portuguese economy in the third quarter.
Portugal emerges as the 17th economy with the highest growth rate in the chain, tied with the same growth rate as four other countries: France, United Kingdom, Denmark and Sweden.
Worse than the pace of growth seen by the Portuguese economy, there were only four economies, including two of the most important in the European bloc. Germany, the largest European economy, grew only 0.1% in the third quarter, avoiding a recession. Italy, the fourth largest economy in the European Union (and third largest in the Euro Zone) also grew only 0.1%, maintaining a growth rate that has been anaemic in recent years. Austria also grew only 0.1% and Lithuania by 0.2%.
When compared with the same period last year, the Portuguese economy is in a more favourable position and growing significantly above the average. Compared to the average of the European Union countries, the Portuguese economy grew by a further 0.5 percentage points. Compared to the average of the countries that share the European single currency, it grew by a further 0.7 percentage points.
Of the 25 Member States for which data are available, 14 saw their economies grow more than Portugal. Portugal comes in 15th place, with a growth of 1.9% of GDP, the same as in Latvia. Below Portugal are nine economies, including the four largest economies in the European Union: Germany, the United Kingdom, France and Italy. Among the top 5 of the largest economies, only Spain grew more in homologous terms, and it was only one tenth more.
