In the Euro Area (EA), Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in volume recorded a year-on-year increase of 5.1% in the first quarter of 2022 (4.7% in the fourth quarter) and a maintained a quarter-on-quarter rate of change of 0.3%. 

Considering the information already available for May, the price of oil (Brent) recorded an average value of 103.4 euros per barrel in the first thirteen days of the month. In April, the average price of oil was 96.7 euros, registering an increase of 78.7% compared to April 2021 and a reduction of 9.2% compared to March 2022.

In Portugal, GDP in real terms registered a year-on-year rate of change of 11.9% in the first quarter of 2022 (5.9% in the previous quarter). The quarter-on-quarter acceleration of GDP was determined by the positive contribution of domestic demand, reflecting the acceleration of private consumption mostly due to the increase of expenditure in services’ activities, after the removal of most restrictions on economic activity imposed in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The contribution of net external demand remained slightly positive.

According to information on operations carried out in the ATM network, available for April, the overall amount of national withdrawals, payment of services and purchases at automatic payment terminals presented a year on-year growth of 26.1% (29.9% in the previous month). 

The manufacturing price index recorded in April a year-on-year rate of change of 22.7% (20.1% in the previous month), the highest growth of the current series. Excluding the energy component, this index increased by 15.7% in year-on-year terms, also the highest growth of the current series, after presenting a 13.6% growth in March. In turn, the year-on-year rate of change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 7.2% in April, reaching the maximum since March 1993.  The year-on-year rate of change of the core inflation rate, which excludes energy and unprocessed food products, was 5.0% (3.8% in March), the highest since September 1995.

To a large extent reflecting the acceleration of prices, the short-term indicators of economic activity from a production perspective, available until March 2022, continued to present high growths in nominal terms, with emphasis on the industrial turnover index with an increase of 25.8% in March (23.0% in February). 

In the first quarter of 2022, the unemployment rate stood at 5.9%, 0.4 and 1.2 percentage points less than the rate observed in the previous quarter and in the first quarter of 2021, respectively. Total employment increased by 0.4% compared to the previous quarter and 4.7% in year-on-year terms. In the same quarter, total monthly gross earnings per employee increased by 2.2% compared to the first quarter of 2021. In real terms, based on the CPI growth rate, total gross compensation decreased by 2.0%.