Portugal, allocating 0.4% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP), was, along with Ireland, the EU Member State that spent the least on state aid in 2024, according to an assessment panel released by the European Commission on Thursday.

Hungary (1.37% of GDP) and Romania (1.22% of GDP) spent the most on state aid.

At current prices, Portugal allocated €1.13 billion to state aid in 2024, making it the country that invests most in regional development (36%), a figure the Commission considers indicative of efforts to increase economic cohesion and competitiveness.

Non-crisis-related aid accounted for the largest share (€1.11 billion, 0.39% of GDP), followed by the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic (€21 million, 0.01% of GDP).

According to the 2025 edition of the State Aid Scoreboard for 2024, spending among the 27 Member States of the European Union (EU) fell compared to 2023, to a range of 1.37% to 0.4%, whereas in the previous year the difference was between 2.89% and 0.4% of their respective national GDPs.

In 2024, the 27 countries spent €168.23 billion, corresponding to 0.94% of the EU’s GDP, on state aid for EU priorities and emergency aid related to the COVID-19 outbreak and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Approximately 90% of this amount, or €151.90 billion, was allocated to EU priorities, representing 0.85% of the bloc’s GDP.

The remaining €16.33 billion, approximately 10% of total state aid expenditure, was allocated to crisis-management measures, representing 0.09% of GDP.