It has been a little while since we looked at the western outpost of the Euro area which is Portugal. The good news is that it has now completed some five years of economic growth which in historical terms is a lengthy period for it. Albeit that rather ominously that length of growth ran straight into the credit crunch last time around. According to Portugal Statistics here is the current state of play.
In comparison with the second quarter of 2018, GDP increased 0.3% in real terms (0.6% in the previous quarter). The contribution of net external demand to the GDP quarter-on-quarter change rate became negative, after being null in the previous quarter, reflecting a decrease of Exports of Goods and Services more intense than that of Imports of Goods and Services. The positive domestic demand contribution increased in the third quarter, reflecting the higher growth of private consumption and Investment.
Firstly it has been nice to see Portugal have a better run as it badly needed it. For the last two quarters it has managed to grow faster than the Euro area average which it does not do often. However we do note that whilst it has done better than average it too was affected by the third quarter slow down too as the quarterly growth rate halved. This impacted on the annual rate.
The Portuguese Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased by 2.1% in volume in the third quarter 2018, compared with
the same period of 2017 (2.4% in the previous quarter). Domestic demand registered a less intense positive
contribution to GDP year-on-year change rate, due to the deceleration of private consumption, as Investment presented a slightly more intense growth. Net external demand presented a negative contribution similar to that observed in the two previous quarters.
So still good in Portuguese terms as we note that a familiar issue which is trade being picked up on our radar screens. This matters on two counts firstly because the Euro area “internal competitiveness” austerity model was something which should be picked up in the trade balance. Secondly it is an old problem area for Portugal that has regularly led it into the arms of the International Monetary Fund or IMF.
Trade
As you can see the growth rates are very good but 2018 has seen export growth overtaken by import growth.
In the 3rd quarter 2018, exports and imports of goods increased by 6.1% and by 7.3% respectively, vis-à-vis the
same period of the previous year. In the 2nd quarter exports and imports recorded variations of +10.8% and +9.5% respectively. In accumulated terms, from January to September 2018, exports increased by 6.7% and imports grew by 7.8%.
Cars
The automotive sector is an important one for Portugal.
The auto sector – including car and component production – is a core sector of the Portuguese economy. It represents 4% of total GDP, is represented in 29 000 companies, is responsible for 124 000 direct jobs and a business volume of 23, 7 thousand millions of euros and 21,6 % of the total fiscal revenues in Portugal. ( Portugal IN)
A fair bit of this is Volkswagen and this from The Portugal News on the 30th of August was very upbeat.
AutoEuropa has produced over 139,000 vehicles this year, surpassing its previous record of 138,890 in 1998, the company announced on an internal communication………According to the company’s data, in 2017” AutoEuropa’s sales weight on Portugal’s goods export was 3.4%……..AutoEuropa expects to double its sales in 2018 compared to 2017, meaning that Portugal’s goods export would grow 3.4%, and the weight on the exports would increase to 6.6%.
As you can see it has been driving both export and GDP growth and has been a success story for Portugal. Switching back to the trade figures we see that transport sector exports grew by 15.3% in the third quarter. This means that the overall picture conforms to this from FT Alphaville in April.
Portuguese earnings from selling goods to the rest of the world — particularly manufactures related to the Iberian motor vehicle supply chain — grew by more than 40 per cent from 2008 through 2017:
Thus we have an actual success for the internal devaluation model so well done to Portugal. Of course the car market even with all the help is only a certain size and it is not all gravy as some of this has been from other Euro area countries. Also we await the news from the last part of 2018 as we have seen car production slowing and temporary factory shut downs due to a reduction in demand from Asia and the Trump Tariffs.An example of this has just flashed across the newswires.
*VW GROUP OCT. DELIVERIES FALL 10% Y/Y; 846,300 VEHICLES…… *VW GROUP OCT. CHINA SALES FALL 8.3% Y/Y; 365,100 VEHICLES ( @mhewson_CMC )
Looking further ahead there is the issue that car production may move even further south as more and more producers look at places like Morocco.
Unemployment
This has been a success too no doubt driven by the developments above and helped by the tourism boom.
The unemployment rate for the 3 rd quarter of 2018 stood at 6.7%, corresponding to the lowest value of the data series
started in the 1st quarter of 2011. This value is equal to the one from the previous quarter and lower in 1.8 percentage
points (p.p.) from the same quarter of 2017.
The full picture is given here.
These reductions were also observed in the
correspondent rates, having the unemployment rate
dropped from 17.5% to 6.7% and the labour
underutilisation rate from 26.4% to 13.1%
The attempt to measure underemployment is welcome as is its drop although it is still high which is true of the number below.
The youth (15 to 24 years old) unemployment rate increased to 20.0%, the second lowest value of the data series started in the 1st quarter of 2011.
Comment
So far today we have charted some welcome progress but there are still issues of which number one was highlighted by the official data on Thursday.
In 2017, the resident population in Portugal was estimated at 10,291,027 people, which accounted for a 18,546 decline
from the previous year………. Despite the positive net
migration in 2017, the population’s downward trend observed since 2010 continued in 2017, although in the last four years at a slower pace.
There are simply fewer births than deaths and for a while many left. This mattered more than it may seem because the emigrants were often those with skills who could leave. Some have returned but many have not and for example I passed some of Little Portugal in Stockwell a couple of weekends ago with its Portuguese restaurants and delicatessens.
The five better years have coincided with the post “Whatever it takes to save the Euro” period and as we looked at on Friday there are now issues for what the ECB does next? Portugal has benefited in terms of a government bond yield of less than 2% for the tern-year benchmark as opposed to the 17/18% at the peak of the crisis. No doubt it has also helped some businesses borrow more cheaply although of course there is also this.
In the 2nd quarter of 2018 (last 12 months), the median house price of dwellings sales in Portugal was 969 €/m2
, an increase of +2% compared to the previous quarter and of +8.15% compared to the same period in the previous year.
Also the Golden Visa programme which has brought in Madonna for more than a holiday and Michael Fassbender for example is no doubt at play here.
The city of Porto (+24.7%), Lisboa (+23.4%), Amadora (+15.8%), Braga (+12.3%), Funchal (+10.4%) and Vila Nova de Gaia (+10.3%) scored the most significant growth rates, compared to the same period in the previous year.
Or as @WEAYL points out.
Housing in Lisbon (€3,381/m2) now more expensive than Madrid (€3,317/m2)
Actually if we look for the source which is JornalEconomico it points towards a familiar problem.
Buying a home as the first option is a wish of the Iberian families. It is not only in Portugal that acquiring housing is the dream of most people, also in Spain this is the first choice of families.
Although they should not be worried as apparently there is no inflation.
In October, the Portuguese HICP annual rate was 0.8% (1.8% in the previous month) while the monthly rate was
-0.5% (1.5% in September and 0.5% in October 2017).
So it is much more expensive but wages are under the influence of the “internal devaluation” model. As to a full perspective the previous peak of 45.76 billion Euros for GDP was finally passed in the second quarter with its 45.88 billion.