) with the Portuguese coat of arms
centered on the dividing line

Economy

Economy--overview: Portugal, in 1998, continued to see strong
economic growth, falling interest rates, and low unemployment. The
country qualified for the European Monetary Union (EMU) in 1998 and
joined with 10 other European countries in launching the euro on 1
January 1999. Portugal's inflation rate for 1998, 2.8%, was low but
higher than most of its European partners. The country continues to
run a trade deficit and a balance of payments deficit. The
government is working to modernize capital plant and increase the
country's competitiveness in the increasingly integrated world
markets. Growth is expected to slow to 3% in 1999 because of a
slowdown in public investment and sluggish demand for exports.

GDP: purchasing power parity--$144.8 billion (1998 est.)

GDP--real growth rate: 4.2% (1998 est.)

GDP--per capita: purchasing power parity?$14,600 (1998 est.)

GDP--composition by sector:
agriculture: 4%
industry: 36%
services: 60% (1998 est.)

Population below poverty line: NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.8% (1998 est.)

Labor force: 4.75 million (1998 est.)

Labor force--by occupation: services 56%, manufacturing 22%,
agriculture, forestry, fisheries 12%, construction 9%, mining 1%
(1998 est.)

Unemployment rate: 5% (August 1998)

Budget:
revenues: $48 billion
expenditures: $52 billion, including capital expenditures of $7.4
billion (1996 est.)

Industries: textiles and footwear; wood pulp, paper, and cork;
metalworking; oil refining; chemicals; fish canning; wine; tourism

Industrial production growth rate: 4.1% (1998 est.)

Electricity--production: 32.839 billion kWh (1996)

Electricity--production by source:
fossil fuel: 55%
hydro: 45%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1998 est.)

Electricity--consumption: 31.92 billion kWh (1997)

Electricity--exports: 3 billion kWh (1996)

Electricity--imports: 4.2 billion kWh (1996)

Agriculture--products: grain, potatoes, olives, grapes; sheep,
cattle, goats, poultry, beef, dairy products

Exports: $25 billion (f.o.b., 1998)

Exports--commodities: clothing and footwear, machinery, chemicals,
cork and paper products, hides

Exports--partners: EU 81% (Germany 20%, Spain 15%, France 14%, UK
12% Netherlands 5%, Benelux