The Portuguese economy recorded a net lending of 2.6% Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the third and fourth quarters of 2023, which represented an improvement compared to 2022, when it presented a negative balance (-0.4% of GDP). Gross National Income (GNI) and Gross Disposable Income (GDI) increased by 1.5% and 1.3%, respectively, compared to the previous quarter (growths of 9.0% and 8.9%, by the same order, compared to 2022). The economy's net lending in 2023 mainly reflected the increase in the balances of General Government (GG) and Financial Corporations, which shifted, respectively, from -0.3% and 1.6% of GDP in 2022, to +1.2% and 2.5% in 2023.

The disposable income of Households sector increased by 1.3% compared to the previous quarter and 6.7% compared to 2022. Compensation of employees mainly contributed to this result, with a growth of 2.5% compared to the previous quarter and 10.7% in annual terms. The savings rate stood at 6.3% in 2023 and 2022, as well as in the third quarter of 2023. In real terms, the adjusted GDI per capita of Households increased by 0.3% and 1.1%, compared to the quarter previous and to 2022, respectively.

The balance of Non-Financial Corporations stood at -2.0% of GDP, improving by 0.6 percentage points compared to the third quarter of 2023, driven by the 2.7% increase in compensation of employees paid which more than compensated the increase of Gross Value Added (GVA) by 1.9%. Compared to 2022, the balance improved by 0.3 percentage points of GDP. 

Net lending of Financial Corporations reached 2.5% of GDP in the fourth quarter of 2023, 0.2 percentage points less than in the previous quarter. In annual terms, net lending increased by 0.9 percentage points of GDP compared to 2022, mainly due to the 38.2% growth in GVA, reflecting the growth in the financial intermediation margin obtained by banking institutions when granting loans and obtaining deposits, due to the increase in interest rates, particularly on loans.

The balance of the General Government sector increased by 0.8 percentage points in the fourth quarter of 2023, standing at 1.2% of GDP (-0.3% in 2022). Considering quarterly values and not the year ending in the quarter, the balance of GG in the fourth quarter of 2023 reached -3 211.7 million euros, corresponding to -4.7% of GDP, which compares with -8.5% in the fourth quarter of 2022. Compared to the same period of the previous year, there was an increase of 8.1% in revenue and 0.4% in expenditure.