Portugal's economy grew at a faster pace in the first quarter of the year, underpinned by domestic demand, and inflation remained broadly unchanged in April, separate reports from Statistics Portugal showed on Friday.
Gross domestic product grew 2.3% year-on-year following a 1.9% increase in the previous quarter. This was in line with the flash estimate released on April 30.
Domestic demand grew at a faster rate of 4.1% versus 3% in the previous quarter. Exports increased 1.7% after a 0.5% fall in the previous three months. Imports surged 5.5% following a 1.9% rise in the fourth quarter of 2025.
Among the components of domestic demand, investments grew 9.2%, which was much faster than the 4.9% in the previous quarter.
GDP was unchanged on a quarter-on-quarter basis after a 0.9% gain in the previous quarter.
Separately, the statistical office reported that the consumer price inflation was largely stable in May, while the EU measure of price growth accelerated.
Headline inflation was 3.27% in May versus 3.35% in April. Inflation was mostly driven by the 13.15% surge in energy costs. Core inflation that excludes fresh food and energy prices was also stable at 2.2%.
The harmonized inflation based on the HICP slowed to 3.1% from 3.3%.
On a month-on-month basis, the CPI rose 0.25% and the HICP increased 0.4%. Prices of energy and fresh food decreased from the previous month. The core CPI rose 0.41% month-on-month after a 1.03% rise in April.
Another report from the statistical office showed that the unemployment rate dropped to 5.7% in April from 5.8% in March.
The youth unemployment rate was 17.9% in April, which is the lowest value since October 2022 when it was 17.5%.