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The Regions of Portugal

ü Portugal’s territory is divided into 7 NUT II* which is equivalent to “regions” – North, Centre, Lisbon, Alentejo, Algarve, the Autonomous Region of Madeira and the Autonomous Region of the Azores. These 7 NUT II, in turn, are divided into 30 NUT III units, equivalent to “sub-regions” (28 are on the mainland).

*Classification of Territorial Units for statistical purposes

ü For administrative purposes mainland Portugal is also divided into 18 Districts: Aveiro, Beja, Braga, Bragança, Castelo Branco, Coimbra, Évora, Faro, Guarda, Leiria, Lisboa, Portalegre, Porto, Santarém, Setúbal, Viana do Castelo, Vila Real and Viseu.

ü The Alentejo and the Centre regions are the largest territories in the country, with 34% and 31% of the total respectively; the Autonomous Region of Madeira is the smallest area.

Regions	Resident Population (2010)	Active Population (2010)	GDP (2010)	GDP per capita (2010)
Regions	Thousands	Thousands	Million €	Thousands €	Portugal=100
Portugal	10,637	5,581	172,571	16.20	100.00
North	3,741	1,984	48,542	13.00	80.00
Centre	2,376	1,346	32,161	13.50	83.40
Lisbon	2,840	1,411	64,313	22.70	140.00
Alentejo	749	369	11,027	14.70	90.60
Algarve	438	223	7,381	17.00	104.50
Azores	246	118	3,728	15.20	93.70
Madeira	248	129	5,224	21.10	130.30

Source: INE– Instituto Nacional de Estatística

ü More than four-fifths of the Portuguese population is concentrated in the North, Centre and Lisbon regions.

ü In the last few years educational attainment rate increased significantly in all educational levels, and in all the regions, especially in secondary education. Lisbon, Centre and North have the highest attainment rates in higher education.

ü With 300 universities and polytechnics, it is important to highlight the increase in the number of students enrolled in higher education in recent years and of the courses in the areas of business, engineering and health sciences. Lisbon, North and the Centre regions have more than 90% of the enrolled students and graduates in higher education.

ü Between 1998 and 2010 the average active population increased from 448 to 894 thousand. Only Lisbon and the Centre regions did not exceed the national average growth.

ü The regions of Lisbon, Madeira and Algarve exceed the GDP per capita national average (€ 16,200). In PPP (EU27=100), only Lisbon (113) and Madeira (105) exceed the European average.

ü In the period 1995-2010 the GDP annual average growth in Madeira (7.4), Azores (5.5), Algarve (5.4) and Lisbon (4.7) surpassed the national average. In 2010, the GDP growth was positive in all regions, unlike the previous year.

ü More than 80% of total Portuguese companies and more than 90% of manufacturing industry are located in the North, Centre and Lisbon regions.

ü Regarding labour productivity (GDP / Employment), Lisbon, Algarve and Madeira regions are above the national average (31.2 thousand Euros).

ü Lisbon and Madeira are the only two regions where the investment share on GVA did not exceed the national average (23.3%).

Regions	Nr. Companies 2010	Labour Productivity (GVA/Employment) 2010	GFCF ^on Total GVA (2009)	Exports (2011)		Imports (2011)
	Thousands	Thousands €	%	Thousands €	%	Thousands €	%
Portugal	1,169	31.20	23.3	42,325,641	100.00	57,729,732	100.00
North	374	24.70	23.5	15,745,861	37.2	12,244,119	18.42
Centre	253	24.70	23.4	8,002,447	18.9	6,947,076	21.2
Lisbon	348	45.60	21.3	14,105,395	33.3	33,319,482	57.7
Alentejo	83	29.50	29.1	2,622,163	6.2	2,168,732	3.8
Algarve	63	33.40	27.4	129,584	0.3	212,627	0.4
Azores	26	30.60	30.2	117,828	0.3	105,813	0.2
Madeira	22	40.70	23.1	63,123	0.1	112,681	0.2

Source: INE– Instituto Nacional de Estatística

ü Companies located in Lisbon generate nearly 50% of national turnover. In the manufacturing industry the North region leads with 38% of total, followed by Lisbon (34%).

ü Export companies located in the North, Centre and Lisbon regions are responsible for almost 90% of total Portuguese exports**.

** Declared Values

ü In 2011, Azores, Algarve and Lisbon’s total exports registered the highest growth, when compared to the previous year (57%, 44% and 28%, respectively).