The picture to the left is of Lisbon (click here) and one of it's many, many streets. It was one of the Rockefeller Foundations 100 Resilient Cities in 2017.
The last official census took place in Portugal in 2011 and it was confirmed at the time that 10,561,614 people were living here. A subsequent estimate was released later that same year that suggested that the Portugal population had grown very slightly to 10,576,252 and this would make the country the 84th most populous on the planet.
Based on the current UN estimates, the 2018 population of Portugal is 10.29 million.
Population Density
Portugal is a relatively small country and its population density figures are consistent with its overall size. It has a surface area of 92,090 square kilometers which converts to 35,645 square miles and makes it the 111th largest country in terms of land mass alone.
For every square mile of Portuguese territory, there is an average of 111 people here. This makes Portugal rank 95th in the world as far as population density is concerned....
The Portuguese (click here) economy advanced 0.5 percent on quarter in the three months to June of 2018, slightly higher than 0.4 percent in the previous period and confirming the preliminary estimates. Household spending was flat while a rise in inventories contributed positively to growth. GDP Growth Rate in Portugal averaged 0.41 percent from 1988 until 2018, reaching an all time high of 3.30 percent in the fourth quarter of 1990 and a record low of -2.60 percent in the first quarter of 1991....
...Year-on-year, the economy grew 2.3 percent, above 2.1 percent in the previous quarter and in line with earlier estimates. The contribution from domestic demand went up, mainly due to higher household (2.6 percent compared to 2.1 percent in Q1) and public spending (0.4 percent compared to 0.3 percent in Q1). The tourism sector continues to boost the economy: spending in national territory (3.4 percent) went up faster than spending by residents (2.6 percent). On the other hand, investment rose at a slower rate (6.4 percent compared to 7.1 percent) due to 6.6 percent drop in investment in material transportation. Net trade weighed down on growth more amid higher imports (7.9 percent compared to 5.6 percent in Q1) while exports rose at a faster pace (6.8 percent compared to 4.7 percent).
For 2018, the Portuguese government targets growth at 2.3 percent.
Portugal's primary trading partner is the EU which is as close as the Spanish border.
Portugal’s top 10 exports accounted for 56.3% of the overall value of its global shipments.
- Vehicles: US$6.9 billion (11.1% of total exports)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: $5.6 billion (9%)
- Mineral fuels including oil: $4.5 billion (7.3%)
- Machinery including computers: $3.9 billion (6.3%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: $3.3 billion (5.3%)
- Knit or crochet clothing, accessories: $2.4 billion (3.9%)
- Footwear: $2.3 billion (3.7%)
- Furniture, bedding, lighting, signs, prefab buildings: $2.2 billion (3.5%)
- Paper, paper items: $2.1 billion (3.4%)
- Articles of iron or steel: $1.7 billion (2.8%)
In addition to tourism, Portugal has a tenacious appetite for fish.
Updated 10-2017
Located in the westernmost (click here) part of Europe on the west coast, over the three main biogeographical regions of the Atlantic Ocean including Azores and Madeira Islands, Portugal has a coastline of 1 214 km (accounting for 1.8 % of the EU's 66 000 km coastline).
The Portuguese fisheries industry has a low contribution to the economy as a whole (0.24 percent of the GDP), but it has a large cultural and social importance, especially in some traditional fishing towns of Portugal. It is estimated that the blue economy represents 3 % of the Portuguese GDP. Portugal reported 17 536 people directly employed in the primary sector of the marine fishery industry in 2015.
Portugal has the third highest per capita fish consumption in Europe (about 53.8 kg in 2013) after Iceland and Faeroe Islands. The main fish consumed in Portugal are small pelagic fish, especially sardine and horse mackerel, but in coastal regions many other species are consumed. Portugal imports large quantities of cod (salted and dried), to satisfy its traditional dietary requirements. In 2015, imports of fish and fishery products were valued at USD 1.9 billion, with exports valued at USD 1.1 billion....
