As part of World Savings Day, which is celebrated today, 31 October, Pordata, the statistical database of the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation, updated a set of information on savings in Portugal.

"The savings of individuals, i.e. families and non-profit institutions in Portugal, as a percentage of disposable income is 2.5 and 3 times lower today than in 1988 and 1978 respectively", Pordata said.

The provisional figure for the savings rate in 2018 is 6.5%, below the 6.6% recorded in 2017, and far from the 16.5% recorded in 1988.

Private individuals' savings as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) were also "much lower in 2018 than in the 1970s, when they reached 24% in 1972 - the highest value since 1960", says Pordata.

Last year, the provisional saving rate was 4.5% of GDP, more than five times lower than in 1972.

In the European scenario, Portugal ranks 17th among 26 countries in the Pordata ranking of household savings as a percentage of GDP, taking into account data for 2017.

"Household savings in Portugal as a percentage of GDP (3.4% in 2017) are much lower than in countries such as Germany, Sweden, France and Luxembourg, where they range from 8.6% to 10.8%," says Pordata.

The same source indicates that in 2017, around 37% of the population in Portugal was unable to cope with unexpected expenditure, compared to the European Union average of close to 34%.