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Hello everyone! I would like to share with you some truly exciting news about investing in Portugal. Recently, data released by the Bank of Portugal revealed an incredibly positive scenario: while Portuguese investment abroad reached a new record, the inflow of foreign investment in our country is even more significant.
From 2008 to 2020, overseas Portuguese investment remained at around €50 billion, but in the last three years, we have witnessed a remarkable increase, bringing it to €64.4 billion. This recent period, marked by the post-pandemic recovery, has been characterised by robust economic growth, with Portugal outperforming the eurozone average in 2022 and 2023. However, data from the Bank of Portugal also reveal that foreign direct investment in Portugal is even more substantial.
At the end of 2023, Portugal recorded a total foreign direct investment of €180.4 billion, almost triple the amount invested by Portuguese companies abroad. That's more than double what it was in 2008, during the global financial crisis. In recent years, we have witnessed an impressive increase in foreign investment in Portugal, driven by large deals and projects in the energy, real estate, and other sectors.
This trend of increasing foreign investment in Portugal has been accompanied by a significant improvement in our external financial position. Net external debt fell to 53.7% of GDP in 2023, reaching its lowest level in 18 years. This reflects the country's financial consolidation trajectory, which includes the reduction of public debt to 99% of GDP, its lowest level since 2010.
This economic success also translates into an improvement in the balance of services, especially in the tourism sector. This is an exciting time for our country, and we can look forward to an even brighter future based on this solid track record of success.
Let's continue to work together to build a more prosperous and vibrant Portugal for all!
Source: Banco de Portugal
Paulo Lopes is a multi-talent Portuguese citizen who made his Master of Economics in Switzerland and studied law at Lusófona in Lisbon - CEO of Casaiberia in Lisbon and Algarve.
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If all the investment is buildings ( because that is all I can see), who is going to provide infrastructure?
By David Peter Clark from Algarve on 31 Mar 2024, 10:18
It would be nice to hear how disappointing of an experience it is for us investors when dealing with paperwork, and bureaucracy in Lisbon, everything is not well equipped to help investors in their project delmvelopment, unless we rely solely on Portuguese companies to handle everything, starting with the visa process were not even the assistance in the service who work their speaks a word of English, it is afterall an immigration service as i recall? And not all immigrants speak portuguese and English is the international language. The other annoying part, you want investors to establish companies in Portugal, and when they create a company and want tonactivate it through opening a bank account, most banks decline because the investors are not portuguese residents "they are foreign investors" so no they are not necessarily EU residents, and not part of a sanctioned country.
As for the business law which is so outdated, it feels like creating companies in the 19th century.
By Marwan Nacouzi from Lisbon on 31 Mar 2024, 19:49