Economic growth in Portugal in the post-war years: an overview

Abstract

This article presents a highly stylised overview of the Portuguese economy in the last fifty years. The analysis is centred on statistical data available, from which it seeks to capture the underlying economic dynamic. The article therefore deals with the deep thrust of economic development. Institutions, individual behaviour and policies are therefore almost wholly excluded from the discussion, or else merely interpreted in the light of the numerical indicators. Having isolated the «underlying trends» in the economy, the article proceeds to divide the period since 1945 into five phases, in order to structure the analysis of development. Two factors of growth are then isolated - foreign relations and human capital - and then studied individually as the engines of development.