In 2022, government expenditure reached 107.1 billion euros, corresponding to 44.8% of GDP, minus 2.9 percentage points (p.p.), compared to 2021. The expenditure in percentage of GDP was lower than the average for all countries in the Euro area (-6 p.p.).

Compared to 2021, government expenditure increased by 4.4% in nominal terms, reflecting the increase in the expenditure to mitigate the impacts of the geopolitical shock and inflation in the Portuguese economy.

Social benefits were the most relevant economic item, representing 41.7% of total expenditure. Compensation of employees and intermediate consumption weighed 24.1% and 12.7%, respectively.

Using the classification of functions of government, in 2021, the last year for which this information is available, the structure of government expenditure was focused on the social protection function (38.2%), followed by the health function and the general public services function, which includes interest payments, with 15.9% and 14.1%, respectively.