Portugal Economy & EU

Portugal Economy

The Portuguese Republic is the 37th richest nation in the world. Its per capita income of $19,000 is one-third of that of the Big Four Nations. The Portuguese economy is heavily concentrated on services (67.3 percent), and only 10 percent of the workforce is engaged in agriculture. Growth has declined in recent years, and is currently reported at 0.4 percent. Unemployment (7.7 percent) is causing some concern, but inflation (2.3 percent) is well under control. (Brockey, pp. 40)

There are great income disparities in Portugal, and the country ranks 38.5 on the Gini Index of Inequality. The richest 10 percent of the population hold 28.4 percent of wealth, but the poorest 10 percent claim only 3.1 percent. According to unofficial estimates, one out of every five Portuguese lives below the poverty line, and 15 percent of the population lives in abject poverty. The health of this group is particularly precarious. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Human Development Reports rank Portugal 37th out of 177 countries on overall quality-of-life issues.

The Portuguese government spends 9 percent of the total budget on health. Just less than 10 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is allocated for health programs, and the government allots $1,791 (international dollars) per capita for health. Almost 70 percent (69.7 percent) of healthcare expenditures are covered by the government, but only 6.5 percent of health funding is used for social security programs. The private sector accounts for 30.3 percent of health expenditures and 95.70 percent of this spending are derived from out-of-pocket expenses. There are 3.42 physicians, 4.36 nurses, 0.08 midwives, 0.55 dentists, and 0.95 pharmacists per 1,000 populations in Portugal (Jenkins, pp. 123)

Portugal is the 6th OECD country which affects a higher percentage of their annual wealth to health needed namely 10% of its products. This trend, for natural reasons, tends to worsen, with an aging population, and may even double in the middle of this century. Regarding education, it should be noted that public spending on education, Portugal has been considered by the OECD in 2003 as a unique case of inefficiency in resource utilization in education

In short, and having further based on data from the report of the competition Portugal in the late 80's was located near the fortieth place having evolved considerably up to 27th place in 1996 that year achieved his best result so far Between 85 and 95, there was a 20% reduction in inflation to 4.1% In this period GDP per capita grew by an annual average of 4 percentage points from 55% to 66% for Europe to 15. In the same period the market share of Portuguese exports increased by 45% and has passed the compulsory education from 6 to 9 years and the number of students in higher education tripled. Since then the Portuguese economy is losing competitiveness. Thus, given this scenario, are key challenges for Portugal to reduce weight in the economy and consequently control the public deficit and foreign debt, implementing public administration reform, ...