The Portuguese Well-being index (WBI) evolved positively between 2004 and 2018, having registered an inflexion in 2007, 2008 and 2012. It recovered the following year, and growth is expected to continue to 2018. However, from 2016, this upwards trend has been progressively less strong.
The WBI illustrates developments of the well-being using two synthetic indices which in turn reveal two dimensions: Material living conditions and Quality of life.
Between 2007 and 2008, and between 2010 and 2013 these two indices evolved in opposite directions. In the first period, the Material living conditions showed an increasing trend while Quality of life decreases, reversing this situation in the second period. From 2013 onwards, they changed in the same direction.
Among the ten domains integrating the WBI, Personal Safety and Education, knowledge and skills are the best performing components during the period under review.
Inversely, Employment and Economic vulnerability are the worst-performing components, although they have been recovering since 2013.