Figures released last week by Eurostat, the European statistical agency, revealed that the Portuguese buying power is close to being 20% lower than average in the European Union.

Preliminary estimates show that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita varied from 43% to a 283% average across the EU27 Member States. The Portuguese buying power was 81% of the total EU average.

Whilst Spain, Italy and Cyprus were around the average mark, France was around 5% above average, and Germany, Belgium, Finland and the UK were all between 10% and 20% above average. Denmark, Austria and Sweden were all recorded at around 25% above the average. The Netherlands came in at around a third above average whilst the Luxembourg recorded the highest level of GDP per capita.

While Denmark, Ireland, Austria and Sweden were all around 25% above the average. The Netherlands was about one third above the average, while the highest level of GDP per capita in the EU27 was recorded in Luxembourg.

Below average were Greece, Slovenia, Malta and the Czech Republic, all at between 10% and 20% below, whilst Slovakia was 25% below. Hungary, Lithuania, Poland and Estonia all fell between 35% and 50% below average, whilst the lowest recorded were Romania and Bulgaria which were around 55% below average.

To understand the full step-by-step process to buying a property in Portugal, collect The Overseas Guides Company’s ‘Portugal Property Buying Guide’