Summary
From 2002 to 2003, according to the new geographical breakdown (NUTS 2002), the Autonomous Region of Madeira, the Algarve, Alentejo and Lisboa regions and the Autonomous Region of Açores strengthened their relative importance in terms of the contribution to GDP, due to higher than national average nominal growth. In turn, the Centro and Norte regions, with lower growth in value terms, lost relevance in GDP. In real terms, regional GDP growth rates (from 2002 to 2003) were, in descending order: 1.7% in the Autonomous Region of Madeira, 0.1% in the Alentejo region, -0.2% in the Algarve, -0.8% in the Lisboa region and in the Autonomous Region of Açores, -1.2% in the Centro region and -2.2% in the Norte region. In 2003 only the Lisboa and Algarve regions and the Autonomous Region of Madeira posted GDP per capita above the national average and exceeded the 75% threshold of GDP per capita in purchasing power parities vis-à-vis the average level for the enlarged European Union (EU 25); compared with the average GDP per capita of the EU15, that value was reached in the Lisboa region and in the Autonomous Region of Madeira, but not in the Algarve (73 index).