The INE report furthermore pointed out how this rise in effective gross domestic product per capita stemmed both from a rise in wealth and also from a fall in prices with the growth in nominal GDP accounting for a 1.9% improvement in purchasing power whilst the slide in the country’s total population added 0.5%.


The INE figures, based on Eurostat figures that study the prices of a basket of goods and services, also demonstrate the extent of purchasing power disparity across the European Union with Luxembourg registering a level double that of the EU average and a whopping six times higher than Bulgaria with the lowest level of per capita purchasing power in the Union.


In terms of the 19 Eurozone member state, Portugal lies in 14th position and ahead of Slovakia, Estonia, Lithuania, Greece and Latvia.