Summary
In 2009, Gross Domestic Product was down by 2.7% in volume, after remaining unchanged in the previous year. The contribution of domestic demand for this change rate was negative (-2.8 percentage points), while net external demand contribution was slightly positive (0.1 p.p.), reflecting a higher absolute reduction of imports compared to exports. The behaviour of domestic demand main components was distinct, with a strong reduction of investment, a moderate reduction of private consumption and an increase in general government consumption. In nominal terms, GDP reached about 163.6 billion Euros, 1.7% below the previous year.
In the 4th quarter 2009, GDP decreased 1.0% in real terms compared to the same period of 2008 (change rates of -2.5%, -3.4% and -3.8%, in the 3rd, 2nd and 1st quarters of 2009, respectively). The less intense year on year GDP reduction in the 4th quarter was associated to the less negative contribution of domestic demand, which changed from -2.2 p.p. in the 3rd quarter to  1.2 p.p. in the following, and to the increase in the contribution of net external demand, which was 0.2 p.p. (-0.3 p.p. in the previous quarter). Compared to the 3rd quarter 2009, Portuguese GDP decreased 0.2%. Comparing with the flash estimate of the 4th quarter 2009, the GDP year on year and quarter on quarter change rates were revised downward by 0.2 p.p., mainly reflecting new information on external trade (nominal data and deflators).