Economy slowed down in Portugal during New Year’s Eve week – O Jornal Económico
Economic activity in Portugal slowed down in the week ending 2 January, reveals the BdP daily indicator released this Thursday. The data revealed show that a year-on-year rate of change declined in the period under review, as well as the biennial rate of change.
The daily economic activity indicator (DEI) shows a reduction in relation to the previous year, and the result of the comparison with the average of the two previous years is even more serious.
This indicator aims to measure abrupt fluctuations in a context of rapid and relevant changes to the legislation in force, as seen in the pandemic situation in which Portugal finds itself.
“The DEI covers several dimensions correlated with the economic in Portugal, summarizing the information on the following variables: road traffic of heavy commercial vehicles on motorways, consumption of electricity and natural gas, cargo and mail unloaded at national airports and purchases made with cards in Portugal for residents and non-residents”, explains the BdP.
In order to avoid pronounced base effects resulting from a comparison with a generalized confinement scenario, as occurred in several periods since March 2020, the DEI is necessary “through the use of a biennial rate, which corresponds to accumulating the variation, in homologous days, for a period of two years”.