Portugal Retail Trade Growth Slows in April

Retail sales in Portugal increased 4.9% year-on-year in April 2026, easing from an upwardly revised 6% rise in March. Also, wholesale trade growth decelerated to 1.5% from 4.4%. In contrast, the trade, maintenance, and repair of motor vehicles sector strengthened, with growth accelerating to 12.2% from 9.2% in March. On a monthly basis, retail sales fell 0.7%, reversing part of the 2.3% increase recorded in March. Meanwhile, employment increased by 0.7% year-on-year in April, while wages rose 6.1% and hours worked increased 1.9%.

Retail sales in Portugal increased 5.5% year-on-year in March 2026, the most in four months, following a downwardly revised 2.8% rise in February. Sales of non-food products surged by 7.7%, from 1.8% in February, led by fuel sales (4.9% versus 2.8%), pharmaceutical products and cosmetics (5.6% versus 3.6%) and clothing and textiles (5.9% versus 2.1%). Meanwhile, sales for computers, telecommunications equipment, and books rebounded sharply, rising 9.6% after a 1.9% decline. On the other hand, growth in food, beverages, and tobacco moderated to 2.5%, easing from a 4.2% rise. On a monthly basis, retail sales grew by 1.8%, up from a 0.6% decline in February.

Retail sales in Portugal increased 4.9% year-on-year in February 2026, following a downwardly revised 4.4% rise in January. Sales of food, beverages and tobacco increased 4.3%, the same as in January while sales of non-food products were up 5.3%, above 4.4% in January, led by faster increases for fuels (2.6% vs 0.6%) and clothing and textiles (23.5% vs 8.8%). On the other hand, a slowdown was seen for house goods (1.5% vs 5.5%) and pharmaceutical products and cosmetics (6.7% vs 7.4%) and sales fell for computers, telecommunication goods and books (-2.8% vs 0.8%). Compared to the previous month, retail sales went up 0.7%, following a 1.8% rise in January.