Portugal slowly recovering

Published on

The economy and recession is not just a problem in the United States, but everywhere around the world. No matter what country a person may live, he or she is definitely feeling the slings and arrows of the worldwide recession. All someone has to do is pick up a newspaper to see what is happening.

In some countries the jobless rate is high, and in other places like Greece the jobless rate is at the highest it’s ever been. However, though Greece might be the number one country in the European Union with a bad recession it is not alone. The country with the second highest recession is Portugal. The recession problem right now in Portugal has not been this bad in over thirty years.

What is the problem?

Experts have been looking into the problem with the Portuguese economy trying to figure out exactly what went wrong. The analysis of the situation in Portugal has resulted in a couple of answers to the question, what happened to the economy in Portugal? The first area of concern is the education system in Portugal. A recent study of the Portuguese education system had some alarming statistics. Less than 30 percent of Portugal’s population has gotten their high school diploma or even completed high school.

This is a staggering number when even other European countries and the United States as well has much higher numbers at 85 to 90 percent. When it comes to higher education such as a college, a little over 10 percent of the Portuguese population have ever attended college and graduated with a degree. Because of the lack of proper education in Portugal, this is a hindrance to the country to be able to grow and be more productive.

Education is a problem in Portugal, but it is not the only one when it comes to the economy. Another major contributor to Portugal’s woes is that a lot of the work force has been out-produced by other countries, such as Central and Latin America. These countries are able to produce goods and export them more effectively than Portugal.

As if this was not bad enough, another major problem Portugal is facing is the fact it only has one major export: cork. Though cork is useful worldwide, it has limited uses; the biggest use for cork is for wine bottles. However, even if the demand for cork is high, the sale of cork all around the world is still not helping Portugal out of its economic dilemma.

The light at the end of the tunnel?

The economic situation in Portugal has prompted another bailout. Despite this news, Portugal is on the right track to get itself out from under its economic woes. What is Portugal doing to get back on track? Portugal is tightening its belt so to speak, by cutting wages and pensions. Portugal is also targeting the health care industry by reducing expenditures there as well. Though as terrible as these figures may sound, there is hope.

The hope for Portugal is that data collected from January and February of this year has shown some improvement. The reason for this growth is because of cork sales outside of the European Union zone. Because of the hopeful numbers in the first half of 2012, many economy experts and financial experts believe that the hope will continue in the second half of the year as well.

Portugal is an amazing, beautiful country that is hundreds of years old and rich with history. During the Middle Ages, Portugal was one of Europe’s super power countries whose territories grew and spread from Europe all the way to South America. Despite being wealthy with spice and the slave trade, Portugal began to lose its status as a super power when other countries such as England and France came into the picture. Though Portugal is struggling with its economy and has been for years, the country is strong and has survived tougher foes and will once again rise as a European super power.

Resource box:

http://www.economist.com/node/17902815

http://www.portugal.com/information/economy


http://www.portugalproperty.com - Portugal's largest real estate agency - with over 5000 of Portugal's finest homes for sale. Contact the team via email at: info@portugalproperty.com or call free now on +44 (0) 800 014 8201

Published in: Guide to Portugal / News and Updates