Portuguese Gross Domestic Product (GDP) recorded in the first quarter 2018 a year-on-year rate of change of 2.1% (2.4% in the previous quarter). Net external demand contribution to the year-on-year GDP rate of growth was more negative, shifting from -0.1 percentage points in the fourth quarter to -0.4 percentage points, since Exports of Goods and Services slowed down more markedly than Imports of Goods and Services. The contribution of domestic demand slightly increased to 2.6 percentage points (2.5 percentage points in the fourth quarter), reflecting the slight acceleration of private consumption and Investment. The evolution of Investment was led by the behaviour of Change in Inventories as Gross Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF) slowed down, mainly due to the Construction component.
In comparison with the fourth quarter of 2017, GDP increased by 0.4% in real terms (quarter-on-quarter rate of change of 0.7% in the previous quarter). The contribution of net external demand to the GDP quarter-on-quarter growth rate was negative (-0.3 percentage points), contrarily to the previous quarter (0.5 percentage points), as Imports of Goods and Services increased and Exports of Goods and Services stagnated. The contribution of domestic demand was 0.8 percentage points, 0.5 percentage points higher than in the fourth quarter, due to the acceleration of private consumption and GFCF.