30.11.201706:36:00UTC+00Portugal Growth Improves In Q3

Portugal's growth accelerated in the third quarter, led by domestic demand, preliminary data from Statistics Portugal showed Thursday.

Gross domestic product grew 0.5 percent from the second quarter, when the economy expanded 0.3 percent. The figure was in line with economists' expectation.

Domestic demand growth improved to 0.7 percent, mainly due to the increase in private consumption as investment decreased. Exports increased 0.8 percent and imports climbed 1.3 percent, thus continuing the negative contribution to the GDP.

On a year-on-year basis, GDP rose 2.5 percent in the third quarter following 3 percent expansion in the previous three months. The pace of growth was the slowest since the fourth quarter of 2016, when the economy expanded 2.2 percent.