Portugal’s net external debt fell to 43.3% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the first half of the year, marking the lowest ratio since December 2024, totaling 126.7 billion euros, announced the Banco de Portugal (BdP) today.
This figure compares with the debt of 126.3 billion euros recorded at the end of 2024, which was equivalent to 44.3% of GDP.
In a statement released today, the BdP also noted that Portugal’s International Investment Position (IIP)—the balance between financial assets held abroad by residents and liabilities issued by residents and held by the rest of the world—shifted from -59.2% of GDP (-168.7 billion euros) at the end of 2024 to -58.7% of GDP (-171.6 billion euros) at the end of June 2025.
According to the central bank, the variation in Portugal’s international investment position was influenced by a positive financial account balance of 2.5 billion euros and positive price changes amounting to 300 million euros, driven by the appreciation of financial assets (8.8 billion euros, notably the gold held by the central bank) and the appreciation of liabilities (8.6 billion euros, mainly in equity participations).
Conversely, it reflected negative exchange rate variations of 5.5 billion euros, primarily due to the depreciation of the US dollar, and other adjustments valued at -200 million euros.
As per the BdP, the 0.5 percentage point reduction in the negative IIP-to-GDP ratio resulted from a 1.5 percentage point GDP growth and a -1.0 percentage point change in the nominal IIP.
