The average gross income declared per family increased by 19% between 2015 and 2020, to 19,866 euros, with the Lisbon region registering the highest value, but seeing the lowest increase (14%), according to a study released today.
This data is contained in the study “Dynamics of transformation of economic activities 2011-2021” prepared for the Confederation of Commerce and Services of Portugal (CCP) by the Center for Geographical Studies/Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning (CEG-IGOT) of the University of Lisbon.
According to the study, data on spatial inequalities in income and purchasing power show that Portugal went from an average gross income declared per tax household of 16,686 euros in 2015 to 19,866 in 2020.
In the same period, the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (AML) always recorded the highest figure (with 20,425 and 23,321 euros in those years), but the rise was less marked than in the other regions.
Conversely, the Algarve maintained the lowest averages in 2015 and 2020 (with 14,469 and 17,218 euros, respectively), but recorded 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 up 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 euros 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 euros.
Despite the evolution in terms of income and education (with an increase in the number of people with secondary or higher education), the study states that “other challenges arise”, one of which is related to the rise in housing costs (for buying or renting).
The aim of the study, coordinated by Eduarda Marques da Costa, is to “understand the main dynamics of 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 an increase of 50%) and in Production Support Services (with growth of around 40% in both people and companies and establishments)”.
The accommodation and catering sector, on the other hand, was hit by the pandemic, which counteracted the positive trend seen since 2011, imposing a “drop in the number of people employed and, to a lesser extent, in companies and establishments”.
The study, presented today 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.
