Lisbon, July 17, 2024 (Lusa) - The average gross income declared per household in Portugal increased by 19% between 2015 and 2020, to €19,866, with the Lisbon region registering the highest value but the lowest increase (14%), according to a study released on Wednesday.
The data is contained in a study titled ‘Dynamics of transformation of economic activities 2011-2021’ prepared for the Confederation of Commerce and Services of Portugal (CCP) by the Centre for Geographical Studies/Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning (CEG-IGOT) of the University of Lisbon.
According to the study, data on inequalities in income and purchasing power show that Portugal went from an average gross income declared per tax household of €16,686 in 2015 to €19,866 in 2020.
Throughout this period, the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (AML) always recorded the highest figure (with €20,425 in 2015 and €23,321 in 2020) but the rise was less marked than in the other regions.
Conversely, the Algarve maintained the country's lowest averages in both 2015 and 2020 (with €14,469 and €17,218, respectively), but saw a 19% increase in that period.
Explaining the rise in average gross income were factors such as the rise in the minimum and average wage and the increase in pensions and social benefits.
Moving on to the details at municipal level, the study states that "while in 2011 there was a clear difference in income between the northern coastal strip [own to Lisbon and some dispersed municipalities with higher average incomes and the rest of the country, in 2020 this discrepancy was blurred by considerable increases, especially in the most economically vulnerable municipalities."
Cinfães, Santa Marta de Penaguião and Odemira have the lowest average values (less than €12,499 per household), while Oeiras, Lisboa, Cascais and Alcochete, all in the AML, appear at the opposite extreme, being the only four municipalities with average values per household above €25,000.
Despite the evolution in terms of income and education (for example, with an increase in the number of people with secondary or higher education) the study notes that "other challenges arise" such as that related to the higher cost of housing to buy or rent.
The aim of the study, coordinated by Eduarda Marques da Costa, is to "understand the main dynamics of the transformation of economic activities in the services sector in Portugal, in the decade mentioned, also looking ahead to 2019, the year that preceded the sharp slowdown in economic activity imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic."
The study also looks at the transformation dynamics of the services sector over that decade, taking into account the number of establishments and companies and people employed in trade, production support services, transport and storage, accommodation and catering and personal services.
In this context, the document points out, between 2011 and 2021, "there was widespread growth, both in people employed and in companies and establishments, in the various major groups of activities, with a particular focus on the increase in companies and establishments in Transport and Storage (with a 50% increase) and in Production Support Services (with growth of around 40% in both people and companies and establishments)."
The hospitality sector, on the other hand, was hit by the pandemic, which counteracted the positive trend that had been observed since 2011, imposing a "drop in the number of people employed and, to a lesser extent, in companies and establishments."
The study, tobe presented on Wednesday in Lisbon, was drawn up on the basis of information contained in the Observatory Platform ‘Services, Urban Competitiveness and Territorial Cohesion’ created by the CCP.
LT/ARO // ARO.
Lusa
