INE revises Portugal's 2024 growth upwards: Economy actually grew by 2.7%

The 2024 performance of the Portuguese economy was stronger than previously announced. The country's gross domestic product grew by 2.7% in 2024, according to the Instituto Nacional de Estatística's annual national account revision.

This rate is 0.5 points higher than the previous estimate.

The revision shows that the 2024 economy is larger than previously forecast, but it does not mean that Portugal's economy suddenly grew 0.5% more today. What has changed is the statistical measurement for the past year.

What was the previous prediction?

In INE's previous calculation, 2024 real GDP growth was measured as approximately 2.2%.

Annual accounts published on 23 September increased this figure to 2.7%.

Hence the revision is +0.5 percentage points.

Such revisions in national accounts can occur by incorporating new and more comprehensive data sources into the statistical system.

2025 growth is 1.9%

On the same day, INE also confirmed the growth rate for the 2025 economy as 1.9%.

When these two figures are put side by side, an important result emerges:

Although the Portuguese economy grew stronger than previously thought in 2024, the growth rate slowed in 2025.

Therefore, the 2024 revision should not be read as a direct indicator of the current growth rate in 2026.

Why is revision important?

GDP is just “how much has the economy grown?” is not the answer to the question.

Denominator in calculating debt/GDP, budget balance/GDP, and various economic ratios It is used as.

Revising the historical level of GDP may therefore also affect the historical rates of other macroeconomic indicators.

In addition, since the starting point of economic forecast models has changed, the new series will be taken as basis in future comparisons.

On the same day, new data came from the budget front.

According to another important INE data announced on September 23, Portuguese public administrations completed the first half of 2026 with a budget surplus of 0.5% of GDP.

A deficit of 0.7% was recorded in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the balance of public administrations showed a surplus of 1.325 billion euros, or approximately 1.6% of quarterly GDP.

Although this budget data and the 2024 GDP revision are separate statistics, they revealed a more up-to-date picture of the financial and macroeconomic outlook of the Portuguese economy on the same day.

Why is it important for the reader?

The GDP revision is not a decision that directly changes the daily wage or tax.

But it changes how the performance of the Portuguese economy is evaluated post-pandemic.

The old growth figure of around 2.2% used for 2024 should not be considered current data in future comparisons; In INE's new annual account, growth is 2.7%.

Resources

ECO — Afinal, economia cresceu 2,7% em 2024, 23 September 2026

https://eco.sapo.pt/2026/09/23/afinal-economia-cresceu-27-em-2024/

RTP — Portugal completa primeiro semestre com excedente orçamental de 0,5%, 23 September 2026

https://www.rtp.pt/noticias/economia/portugal-completa-primeiro-semestre-com-excedente-orcamental-de-05_n1767199