LISBON: Portugal's economy expanded a weaker-than-expected 0.2 percent in the fourth quarter, driven by exports, after zero growth in the preceding three month period, to end 2015 1.5 percent higher, official data showed on Friday.
In its flash estimate, the National Statistics Institute (INE) also said that compared to the same period of 2014, the economy expanded 1.2 percent, below the average forecast of 1.4 percent in a Reuters poll of economists.
In the third quarter the economy grew 1.4 percent year-on-year.
The average estimate for quarter-on-quarter growth was 0.4 percent.
Despite the weaker growth in the quarter, the full-year expansion came in line with the market's and government's expectations and marks an acceleration from 0.9 percent in 2014, which was the first year of growth after a long recession.
The INE said a drop in domestic demand and investment weighed on quarterly GDP, while exports of goods and services helped the economy expand slightly compared to the previous quarter.
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