Portugal 2016

ACTIVIDADE ECONÓMICA CONTAS NACIONAIS ECONOMIC ACTIVITY NATIONAL ACCOUNTS 87 All these situations (except for the 2011-13 period) were in line with the pattern of euro area economies, although with different magnitudes. Specifically, the most recent recession was associated with a modest recovery of the economies after the 2008-09 crisis and determined by the impact of a sharper restrictive policy applied to the Portuguese economy. Up to the end of 2005 the volume indices of the Portuguese economy’s annual GDPmp were higher than those of the European economy (EU28), although this differential followed a downward trend from 2000 onwards. In 2016 GDP grew at a rate of 1.5%, i.e. lower by 0.3 p.p. than in the previous year, after a slight recovery that started in 2014. In comparison with the declines experienced in the 2011-13 period, aggregate demand experienced opposite developments, which maintained the same pattern as in 2014: the expansion of domestic demand countered the contraction observed since 2011, and there was a decline in net external demand, which resumed a negative value. The expansion of domestic demand in 2016, much weaker than in 2014, combined with a less negative behaviour of net external demand, led to a slight deceleration in the GDP growth rate in 2016 of around -0.3 p.p. compared to 2015. In 2016 domestic demand attained a growth rate of 1.6% compared to 2.7%, which implied a 1.0 p.p. contraction from 2015. However, this component continued to play a relevant role in GDP growth, contributing around 1.6 p.p. (2.8 p.p. in 2015). Net external demand made a marginally negative contribution of -1.0 p.p., which was much less negative than in 2015 (-1.1 p.p.).