Portugal

Core Facts

  • Population:  10.2M
  • GDP:  USD 199 billion
  • GDP per head:  USD 22,000
  • Workforce:  4.6M
  • Unemployment (2017):  10.1%
  • Average high skilled monthly wages (2017):  USD 1,490

Regulatory

Portuguese Labour Law has traditionally favoured the employee, in particular the Court system. However, the current economic situation has seen the Government adopt a policy of reducing labour costs to increase employment and improve Portugal’s overall economic performance. In April 2003, the Portuguese parliament approved a Labour Code which replaced most previous individual and collective labour legislation by bringing former provisions together into a single text. Portugal has recently passed further controversial changes to their Labour Code, impacting harshly on employees, in a further attempt to stream-line businesses into more efficient and competitive entities.