Summary
The economic sentiment and the consumer confidence indicators diminished significantly in the Euro Area (EA) and in the European Union (EU27), in August and September. The raw materials and oil prices presented change rates of -3.0% and 6.6% in September comparing with the previous month, respectively.
In Portugal, the economic climate indicator reached in September the lowest value since April 2009. The economic activity indicator, available until August, extended the descending path observed during the last year. The private consumption indicator diminished in August slightly less than in the previous month, reflecting the contribution in the same direction of non-durable and durable consumption. In August, the Gross Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF) indicator presented a more intense reduction, due to the stronger negative contribution of the investment in construction and transport material, more intense in the first case. Concerning the international trade of goods, exports continued to record a strong year-on-year nominal growth rate in August, of 13.9% (15.3% in July), while imports diminished 5.2% (+0.2% in the previous month).
In September, the year-on-year change rate of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 3.6% (2.9% in August). In the same month, excluding energy and unprocessed food products, this rate was 2.5% (1.8% in the previous month). The prices of the goods and of the services components presented year-on-year growth rates of 4.2% and 2.5% in September (3.1% and 2.6% in August), respectively. The differential between the change rate of the Portuguese Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) and of the EA HICP increased 0.2 p.p. in September, to 0.5 p.p..