Bank of Portugal publishes 2024 financial accounts showing Portugal financed the rest of the world by 3.3% of GDP

The Bank of Portugal published updated 2024 financial national accounts and sectoral interconnections data, showing that the Portuguese economy was a net lender to the rest of the world equal to 3.3% of GDP, the highest reading since 1995. The release also highlights a rise in households’ net lending capacity to 4.7% of GDP and net lending by the financial sector to the rest of the world of 6.2% of GDP. Across resident sectors, households, the financial sector and general government recorded net lending positions of 4.7%, 1.6% and 0.7% of GDP respectively, while non-financial corporations were the only net borrowing sector at 3.7% of GDP. Households’ position was driven mainly by net lending to the financial sector (3.2% of GDP), alongside a 4.4% of GDP increase in deposits (the largest since 2008), led mainly by time deposits; this was partly offset by higher borrowing (1.7% of GDP), with net lending by resident banks to households, mainly mortgage lending, also the highest since 2008. Net lending to the rest of the world by the financial sector was linked largely to purchases of non-resident government debt securities, with resident banks increasing investment in non-resident debt securities by EUR 18.6 billion (a record annual amount) and these instruments reaching 45% of banks’ total debt securities investment by end-2024; the published data incorporate revisions back to the first quarter of 2022. The next update is scheduled for 10 July 2025.