Without providing any total figures, Nieslen said that the third quarter had reinforced growth in the previous four quarters and bouncing back from a 2% decline in growth in the third quarter of 2014.


However, pricing remains an issue with retailers continuing to trim prices to keep the footfall coming with the third quarter seeing prices down 0.6% with the previous eight quarters seeing price falls in a total of five.


“This means the Portuguese can buy more for less,” said the report with a 3.1% year-on-year rise in the amount of goods sold in the third quarter.


The report also pointed out that while the European Union saw a 3% average rise in sales over this period, the Portuguese pace of expansion outstripped those turned in by Germany, Italy and France and far better than the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Finland that turned in negative figures for this period.


However, Portugal nevertheless failed to keep up with its Iberian neighbour with Spain seeing a 3.1% rise in retail sales between July and September this year.