Financial News: Portugal Inflation Rises To 7-month High; Industrial Outpu

Portugal Inflation Rises To 7-month High; Industrial Output Falls

03/31/2026 - 09:42:00 (RTTNews)

(RTTNews) - Portugal's consumer price inflation accelerated in March to the highest level in seven months amid higher fuel costs, flash data from Statistics Portugal showed on Tuesday.

Separate official data showed that industrial production declined for the first time in four months in February.

The consumer price index rose 2.7 percent annually in March, faster than the 2.1 percent increase in February. Moreover, this was the highest inflation rate since August 2025, when it was 2.8 percent.

The acceleration was almost entirely explained by the increase in the prices of fuels, the agency said.

Prices for energy products grew sharply by 5.8 percent annually in March, reversing a 2.2 percent fall a month ago. Meanwhile, the annual price growth in unprocessed food products eased slightly to 6.4 percent from 6.7 percent.

Excluding energy and unprocessed food products, the core inflation was 2.0 percent in March, up from 1.9 percent in the previous month.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose 2.0 percent versus only a 0.1 percent increase in February.

The EU measure of inflation, the harmonized index of consumer prices, climbed 2.7 percent annually in March, following a 2.1 percent growth in the prior month.

Industrial production declined 4.4 percent yearly in February, reversing a 0.4 percent increase in January. Further, this was the steepest fall since March 2025, when output declined 5.4 percent.

Among sectors, manufacturing output contracted sharply by 8.6 percent from last year, and the growth in mining activity eased significantly to 10.8 percent from 41.7 percent. Meanwhile, the utility sector continued to expand strongly by 20.4 percent.

Compared to the previous month, industrial output dropped 0.2 percent.

The unemployment rate in the country rose to 5.8 percent in February from 5.6 percent in January. There were 328,100 unemployed people, an increase of 12,300 from the previous month.

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