In 2016, the Portuguese Gross Domestic Product (GDP) attained around 185 billion euro in nominal terms, representing a real growth rate of 1.4%, after an increase of 1.6% in 2015. The contribution of domestic demand to GDP growth decreased to 1.5 percentage points (2.6 percentage points in 2015), mainly reflecting the reduction in Investment, and, to a lesser extent, the slight deceleration of private consumption. Net external demand contribution shifted from -1.0 percentage points in 2015 to -0.1 percentage points, as Imports of Goods and Services slowed down more intensely than Exports of Goods and Services. In nominal terms, the External Balance of Goods and Services increased to 1.2% of GDP (0.7% in 2015), benefiting from the gain in terms of trade registered in 2016, although lower than in the previous year.
In the fourth quarter 2016, GDP registered a year-on-year change rate of 2.0% in volume (1.7% in the previous quarter), an upward revision of 0.1 percentage points compared to the Flash Estimate. GDP acceleration was due to the increase of the domestic demand contribution from 1.1 percentage points in the third quarter to 2.5 percentage points, featuring an Investment upturn and a more intense increase of private consumption. Net external demand contribution was negative in the fourth quarter ( 0.6 percentage points), after being positive in the previous quarter (0.6 percentage points), with Imports of Goods and Services recording a more pronounced acceleration than Exports.
In comparison with the third quarter, GDP increased 0.6% in real terms (quarter-on-quarter change rate of 0.9% in the previous quarter). Contrary to the previous quarter, the contribution of domestic demand was positive, mainly driven by Investment behaviour. On the other hand, net external demand shifted from a positive to a negative contribution, due to a significant increase in Imports of Goods and Services.