Lisbon, Aug. 19, 2026 (Lusa) - The Portuguese economy recorded a current account surplus of €1.201 billion in the first half of the year, down 45.8% on the same period last year, according to figures released by the Bank of Portugal (BdP) on Wednesday.
Compared with the previous month, this is €348 million higher than in May, but remains below the figures recorded in the same months of 2024 and 2025.
The BdP attributed the reduction in the surplus to a €2.508 billion increase in the goods account deficit and a €1.325 billion increase in the capital account surplus.
In the case of the goods account, imports rose by €4.715 billion, more than double the growth in exports (€2.207 billion).
As for the increase in the capital account surplus, this «reflects the rise in reinsurance compensation received from abroad», in particular due to compensation for damage caused by the storms that affected the mainland in the first few months of the year.
Added to this compensation is «the growth in allocations to final beneficiaries of European funds classified as investment aid, notably from the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP)».
According to the Bank of Portugal (BdP), the surplus on the current and capital accounts accounted for 0.8% of half-yearly Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The central bank noted that the Portuguese economy's financing capacity up to June resulted in a financial account balance of €630 million, compared with €285.2 million the previous month and €1.86 billion a year earlier.
«The sectors that contributed most to this positive balance were general government, due to an increase in its deposits abroad, and insurance companies and pension funds, through investment in debt securities issued by non-residents,» the BdP states in a note.
Meanwhile, the central bank and non-financial corporations saw the largest reductions in net assets, «due to growth in deposit and capital liabilities, respectively».
In June alone, the Portuguese economy recorded an external surplus of €348 million, €359 million less than a year earlier.
According to the BdP, this adjustment reflects the €767 million increase in the goods account deficit, alongside rises of €291 million and €64 million in the capital account and primary income account surpluses, respectively.
In the case of the goods balance, imports (€1.451 billion) grew faster than exports (€684 million), whilst the capital account surplus is largely explained by movements under the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR).
As for the primary income balance, the impact of income from foreign investment funds is particularly noteworthy.
As for its international investment position, which reflects the balance between financial assets held abroad by residents and liabilities issued by residents and held by the rest of the world, Portugal recorded its most positive ratio since the third quarter of 2001, reaching 48.3% of GDP, equivalent to negative €152.8 billion.
Several factors drove this change. In addition to the positive balance on the financial account, positive exchange rate movements of €1.9 billion, ‘mainly due to the appreciation of the US dollar', adjustments amounting to €600 million, and negative price changes of €2.9 billion also contributed.
According to the Bank of Portugal, the 1.6 percentage point fall in the PII-to-GDP ratio was mainly due to GDP growth (+1.5 percentage points), whilst the nominal change in the PII contributed 0.1 percentage points.
Net external debt fell from 36.5% of GDP (€111.8 billion) at the end of 2025 to 33.9% of GDP (€107.1 billion) in June, the lowest ratio since March 2001.
JO/ADB // ADB.
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