Summary
In February, the economic sentiment indicator maintained the upward movement observed in the previous months in the Euro Area (EA) and in the European Union (EU27). In the same month, the consumer confidence indicator recovered again in the EU27, but stabilized in the EA, suspending the strong increase observed since May. The raw materials and the oil (Brent) prices accelerated again in February.
In Portugal, the economic climate indicator, available until February, diminished slightly in the last three months, opposing the upward movement started in May, after registering the minimum value of the series. The economic activity indicator recovered in January, maintaining the positive path observed since June. The private consumption indicator increased again in January, due to the positive contribution of both components, durable and non-durable consumption, more intense in the second case. In the same month, the GFCF indicator diminished less intensely, driven by the evolution of the transport material and construction components. Concerning the international trade of goods, in January the imports presented again a less negative year-on-year nominal change rate than the observed in the previous month (respectively, -2.5% and -6.5%). Exports registered a slight year-on-year nominal growth, changing from -3.3% in December to 2.0% in January. This is the first positive year-on-year nominal change rate of exports since September 2008. 
In February, the year-on-year change rate of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 0.2%, 0.1 p.p. higher than the observed in the previous month. The differential between the EA Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) and the Portuguese HICP diminished 0.2 p.p. in February relatively to the previous month, to 0.7 p.p..