“The Northern region maintained a positive economic performance in the third quarter of 2025, with particular emphasis on employment growth, wage increases, and favourable developments in tourism, despite signs of a slowdown in some sectors,” concludes the quarterly report “Northern Economic Outlook,” prepared and disseminated by the Northern Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR-N).
According to the document consulted by Lusa, “the employed population in the North grew by 2.4% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2025, reaching 1.8 million people.”
According to the CCDR-N, this is “the highest value since 2011,” a period in which Portugal recorded “a year-on-year increase of 3.7%.”
Job growth in the North resulted from increases in the secondary (3.6%) and tertiary (2.0%) sectors.
This growth “was driven by the secondary (up 3.6%) and tertiary (up 2.0%) sectors, with particular emphasis on manufacturing industries (up 4.8%, 19,700 more jobs) and information and communication activities (up 34.0%, 18,000 more jobs),” describes the CCDR-N (Regional Coordination and Development Commission of the North).
The unemployment rate in the North “decreased to 6.1% in the third quarter of 2025, down 0.1 percentage points compared to the same period of the previous year, remaining above the national average of 5.8%.”
The net monthly salary of employees in the North “saw a real increase of 4.8%, year-on-year,” although “lower than the national average (6.0%).”
The most significant wage increases occurred in agriculture (up 15.8%), construction (up 13.1%), and transport and storage (up 12.0%).
Tourism “maintained a positive trajectory, with overnight stays in tourist establishments growing by 3% and guests by 1.8%, both above the national average,” according to the report.
“Total revenues exceeded €407 million, reflecting an increase of 7.1%,” it adds.
Exports of goods from the North “registered a positive variation of 0.4%, reversing the negative trend of the previous quarter, while at the national level there was a decrease of 0.5%.”
“Growth was sustained by exports to European Union countries (+2.1%), with emphasis on capital goods (+5.3%),” the report states.
Building licensing decreased by 3.2% in the North, “interrupting the growth trend observed in previous quarters.”
As for the inflation rate, it increased to 2.9%, above the national average (2.6%), marked by the increase in prices of unprocessed food products (+7.4%).
The accumulated debt of the Northern economy (companies and households) continued to rise in the 3rd quarter of 2025, with a year-on-year increase of 6.5%.
Since 2006, Norte Conjuntura has been gathering and analysing the most relevant available information to early identify trends that shape the short-term economic evolution of the Northern region within the national context.