Government budget
The year of 2014 marked the start of the recovery of the Portuguese economy. Since the third quarter of 2014, the Portuguese economy has been steadily expanding, with a GDP growth of 0.4% quarterly and 1.5% yearly registered in the second quarter of 2015. The economic recovery has been accompanied by a continuous fall in the unemployment rate (8.5% in the third quarter of 2017, from a high of 17% in 2012). The Government budget deficit has also been reduced from the 11.2% of GDP in 2010 to 4.8% in 2014.