Lisbon, June 24, 2025 (Lusa) - The government sector in Portugal recorded a surplus of 0.2% of gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter of the year, the National Statistics Institute (INE) said on Tuesday.
“Considering the quarterly figures and not the year ending in the quarter, the balance of the PA [Public Administration] in the first quarter of 2025 reached €125 million, corresponding to 0.2% of GDP, which compares with -0.4% in the same period last year,” reads the statistics office’s highlight.
Revenue grew 7.8% year-on-year, while expenditure increased 6.4%.
In current revenue, all components increased, with INE highlighting the 22.4% change in other current revenue and 7.9% and 7.7% in revenue from social contributions and sales, respectively.
Capital revenue grew by 44.0%, reflecting the increase in revenue from the Recovery and Resilience Plan.
On the other hand, expenditure was marked by an increase in personnel expenses (8.6%), interest charges (6.0%), social security charges (5.5%) and intermediate consumption (5.1%), while subsidies fell by 58.7%, according to the statistics office.
This decrease in subsidies "is related to the base effect due to the recording, in the first quarter of 2024, of the additional allocation of funds to the National Electricity System (SEN) for the reduction of electricity tariffs by the Environmental Fund", explains INE.
For the year as a whole, the Government maintains its “commitment to budgetary balance” and projects a surplus of 0.3% of GDP, even at a time when there are already institutions monitoring Portuguese public accounts that are projecting a return to budget deficits this year or next.
From a public accounting perspective (which takes into account cash inflows and outflows), the state recorded a surplus of €1.5923 billion up to March, according to budget execution data released by the Directorate-General for the Budget (DGO).
The balance calculated by INE differs from that of the DGO, as it is based on national accounting (which is relevant for European institutions), which means that it is calculated taking into account a commitment logic for revenue and expenditure.
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