25 October 2026
Statistics Portugal (INE) has published its house price statistics for the second quarter of 2026.
The median price of the 37,854 family dwellings sold in Portugal was 2,445 euros per square metre.
That is a rise of 18.4 per cent over the same quarter of 2025, after 19.8 per cent in the previous quarter.
The number of family dwellings sold fell by 9.0 per cent against the same quarter of 2025.
The municipalities of Lisboa (5,299 euros per square metre), Cascais (5,200) and Oeiras (4,704) had the highest prices.
Prices accelerated in 10 of the 24 municipalities with more than 100 thousand inhabitants, led by Loures and Matosinhos.
Median house price:
2,445 €/m2
Dwellings transacted:
37,854
Year-on-year rise:
18.4%
Highest-priced municipality:
Lisboa, 5,299 €/m2
Why it matters for exams: Examiners use housing-price releases to test which body compiles a country's official statistics and what currency and capital that country uses.
Kerala PSCUPSCBank
In plain words
INE Instituto Nacional de Estatistica (Statistics Portugal) — Portugal's national statistical office, which compiles its official price, population and output figures.
Median price — The middle value in a list of prices, so half the sales are above it and half below.
25 October 2026
Statistics Portugal (INE) reports that the annual rate of change of the Consumer Price Index was 3.6 per cent in September 2026, against 3.3 per cent in August.
INE explains the acceleration mostly by the increase in the prices of fuels.
Core inflation, which excludes energy and unprocessed food, was 2.7 per cent.
The annual rate for energy products rose to 15.3 per cent, from 12.2 per cent in August.
The Portuguese Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices also stood at 3.6 per cent, which is 0.2 percentage points below the rate Eurostat estimated for the euro area.
The CPI 12-month average rate was 2.8 per cent.
CPI annual rate:
3.6%
Core inflation:
2.7%
Energy products:
15.3%
CPI 12-month average:
2.8%
Why it matters for exams: Inflation releases are the standard way papers ask which agency measures prices, what HICP stands for and which currency bloc a country belongs to.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSCBank
In plain words
HICP Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices — A price index built to the same rules in every European Union country so inflation can be compared across them.
Core inflation — Inflation measured after leaving out energy and unprocessed food, whose prices swing sharply.
Eurostat — The statistical office of the European Union, which puts together comparable data for member states.
25 October 2026
Statistics Portugal (INE) reports that the implicit interest rate for all housing loan agreements rose from 3.162 per cent in August to 3.194 per cent in September 2026.
For contracts closed in the previous three months the rate rose from 2.910 per cent to 2.959 per cent.
The average amount of owed capital increased by 655 euros to 80,843 euros.
The average loan repayment rose by 5 euros to 423 euros, which is 30 euros above the figure a year earlier.
Interest represented 50.4 per cent of the average repayment.
For contracts signed in the last three months the average repayment was 757 euros.
Implicit interest rate:
3.194%
Average owed capital:
80,843 Euros
Average repayment:
423 Euros
Interest share of repayment:
50.4%
Why it matters for exams: A housing-credit release is a clean occasion to ask which institution supervises a country's banks and which currency its loans are written in.
Kerala PSCUPSCBank
In plain words
Implicit interest rate — The rate actually being paid across all outstanding loans, worked back from the interest charged.
Banco de Portugal — Portugal's central bank, which supervises its banks and belongs to the Eurosystem.
25 October 2026
Statistics Portugal (INE) reports that the Industrial Production Price Index recorded a year-on-year increase of 9.2 per cent in September 2026.
That is an acceleration of 2.1 percentage points on the previous month.
The Energy and Intermediate Goods groupings contributed a combined 8.3 percentage points, with year-on-year increases of 33.6 per cent and 8.2 per cent.
In the third quarter of 2026 industrial producer prices increased by 7.3 per cent, against 4.7 per cent in the previous quarter.
On a monthly basis the index rose 1.5 per cent.
IPPI year-on-year:
9.2%
Energy grouping:
33.6%
Third quarter rise:
7.3%
Why it matters for exams: Producer price releases let a paper ask which index measures factory-gate prices and which body in a country publishes it.
Kerala PSCUPSCBank
In plain words
IPPI Industrial Production Price Index — An index of the prices factories receive for their own output, before retail margins.
Intermediate goods — Goods that are used up in making other goods, such as steel or chemicals.
25 October 2026
Statistics Portugal (INE) reports that for the first time since the start of its statistical series in 1995, Portugal recorded four consecutive years of economic growth accompanied by a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
INE describes this as a continued decoupling between economic activity and greenhouse gas emissions.
Emissions, expressed as Global Warming Potential, fell by 2.8 per cent in 2024 to 52.0 million tons of CO2 equivalent, the lowest value in the series.
Gross Domestic Product at market prices increased by 2.7 per cent in the same year.
Together these produced a 5.4 per cent fall in the carbon intensity of the Portuguese economy, also the lowest in the series.
Emissions in 2024:
52.0 million tons of CO2 equivalent
Fall in emissions:
2.8%
GDP growth at market prices:
2.7%
Fall in carbon intensity:
5.4%
Why it matters for exams: Decoupling growth from emissions is a standard environment-and-economy question, and examiners ask what CO2 equivalent and carbon intensity mean.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
CO2 equivalent Carbon dioxide equivalent — A common unit that converts every greenhouse gas into the amount of carbon dioxide with the same warming effect.
Carbon intensity — The emissions produced for each unit of economic output.
Decoupling — When an economy keeps growing while its emissions fall, so the two no longer move together.
25 October 2026
Statistics Portugal (INE) has published its monthly vital statistics for Portugal.
In September 2026 there were 8,928 deaths, 157 fewer than in the previous month and 160 more than in September 2025, an increase of 1.8 per cent.
Deaths of children under 1 year of age numbered 15, eight fewer than a year earlier.
In August 2026, 7,267 live births were registered, 292 fewer than in the same month of 2025.
The natural balance in August 2026 was -1,795, an improvement on -2,319 in the same month of 2025.
Marriages celebrated in August 2026 numbered 5,145, an increase of 4.6 per cent over the same month of 2025.
Deaths in September 2026:
8,928
Live births in August 2026:
7,267
Natural balance:
-1,795
Marriages:
5,145
Why it matters for exams: Vital statistics are the standard occasion to ask what natural increase means and which body registers a country's births and deaths.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Natural balance — Live births minus deaths in a period, leaving migration out of account.
Live birth — A birth where the child shows signs of life, however briefly.
Background
Antonio Jose Seguro took office as the twenty-first President of the Portuguese Republic.
The Presidency records the swearing-in as the Tomada de Posse de Antonio Jose Seguro como XXI Presidente da Republica.
The ceremony was held at the Assembly of the Republic, where he took the oath with his right hand on the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic.
The National Anthem was played and a 21-gun artillery salute followed.
Jose Pedro Aguiar-Branco, President of the Assembly of the Republic, spoke first, after which the President addressed the plenary.
King Felipe VI of Spain and the Presidents of Angola, Sao Tome and Principe, Cabo Verde, Timor-Leste and Mozambique attended.
President of the Republic:
Antonio Jose Seguro
Position in the line of Presidents:
XXI
Venue of the oath:
Assembly of the Republic
Salute:
21-gun artillery salute
Why it matters for exams: Who the head of state is, how the office is filled and where the oath is taken are the standard questions on any country's presidency.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Tomada de Posse — The Portuguese term for a swearing-in or taking of office.
Presidency of the Portuguese Republic — The office and official site of Portugal's head of state, based at the Palace of Belem.
Background
Lisbon is the capital of Portugal, which has been a European Union member state since 1 January 1986.
Portugal has been in the euro area since 1 January 1999 and uses the euro.
It has been a Schengen member since 26 March 1995.
Portugal sends 21 members to the European Parliament.
Its geographical size is 92,226 square kilometres and its population is 11,424,031 on Eurostat figures.
Portugal is a semi-presidential republic: the President is head of state and appoints the Prime Minister, who heads the government.
Capital:
Lisbon
EU member since:
1 January 1986
Euro area since:
1 January 1999
Schengen member since:
26 March 1995
Members of the European Parliament:
21
Geographical size:
92,226 km2
Why it matters for exams: Membership dates, the capital, the currency and the number of seats in the European Parliament are asked directly in general studies papers.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSCBank
In plain words
Schengen Area — A group of European countries that have abolished checks at their common borders.
Euro area — The European Union countries that have adopted the euro as their currency.
Semi-presidential republic — A republic where an elected President shares executive power with a Prime Minister answerable to parliament.
Background
Portugal is one of the twelve founding members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
The other eleven are Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States.
They signed the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington, D.C. on 4 April 1949.
NATO now has 32 member countries, Sweden being the thirty-second.
NATO's purpose under the treaty is the collective defence of its members.
Founding members:
12
Treaty signed at:
Washington, D.C.
Members today:
32
Why it matters for exams: The founding members of NATO, where the treaty was signed and the current number of members are repeatedly asked facts.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization — A military alliance of European and North American countries founded by the North Atlantic Treaty.
North Atlantic Treaty — The founding treaty of NATO, signed in Washington, D.C.
Background
Portugal carries 17 properties on the UNESCO World Heritage List, of which 16 are cultural and one is natural.
The only natural property is the Laurisilva of Madeira, inscribed under criteria (ix) and (x) and covering 15,000 ha.
UNESCO describes it as an outstanding relict of a previously widespread laurel forest type.
The cultural properties include the Monastery of the Hieronymites and Tower of Belem in Lisbon, the Historic Centre of Oporto, the Cultural Landscape of Sintra and the Alto Douro Wine Region.
Others are the Convent of Christ in Tomar, the Monastery of Batalha, the Monastery of Alcobaca, the Historic Centre of Evora and the University of Coimbra - Alta and Sofia.
The Garrison Border Town of Elvas and its Fortifications and the Landscape of the Pico Island Vineyard Culture are also on the list.
World Heritage properties:
17
Cultural:
16
Natural:
1
Only natural property:
Laurisilva of Madeira
Why it matters for exams: The number of a country's World Heritage properties, and which of them is natural rather than cultural, are standard objective questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization — The United Nations agency that maintains the World Heritage List.
Laurisilva — A laurel forest of evergreen broadleaf trees, of which the Madeira forest is the best surviving example.
State Party — A country that has signed the World Heritage Convention and can nominate sites.