In February 2022
Madeira’s economy accelerated
The Regional Indicator Economic Activity Indicator (RIEA) shows that, in February 2022, there was an acceleration of economic growth in the Region. It should be borne in mind that the month of reference is compared to the same period of last year, which was affected by restrictions that impacted economic activity, deriving from a wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As mentioned in the first release of RIEA, in October 2017, its purpose is “to signal the behavior of economic activity, namely concerning its direction and magnitude of fluctuations: whether it is in the positive or negative ground, accelerations, decelerations and the identification of turning points”. Therefore, its quantitative value assumes secondary importance, not being a substitute for the volume change of the Gross Domestic Product - determined with a more varied and complete set of statistical information - although there is a strong correlation between the two variables.
Monthly Economic Survey - The economic situation of the Autonomous Region of Madeira in February 2022 from 6 topics
The Regional Directorate of Statistics of Madeira (DREM) analyses the main short-term indicators, divided into 6 themes: economic activity, private consumption, investment, external demand, labour market and prices. It should be noted that the indicators referenced to February 2022, show an acceleration in growth, which is due to the strong conditioning of economic activity in the corresponding period of last year.
Economic activity
As mentioned above, RIEA shows that, in February 2022, the economic activity had a growth acceleration.
The recovery of the tourism sector was an important contributor to this performance, with overnight stays (excluding local accommodation under 10 beds) increasing by 316.2% in the month.
Electricity consumption - an indicator closely linked to the growth of economic activity - recorded a year-on-year change of 9.6% in February 2022, above the value of the previous month (8.2%). Also on an upward trend is the diesel released for consumption, which in February 2022 grew by 19.6%, up from 13.3% last January.
When analysing the ratio of formed and dissolved companies, it is noted that in February 2022, for each dissolved company in the Region, 1.4 new companies were created, the same value as in January 2022, reflecting a slowdown compared to the last 2 months of 2021 (3.5 in November and 2.2 in December).
Private consumption
One of the indicators that can be related to private consumption is the operations on the SIBS network with the cards issued by the national banks. Analysing the amounts of withdrawals and purchases through automatic payment terminals (APT) using this type of card, there is a sharp growth of 13.2% in February 2022 (10.8% in the previous month), reversing the deceleration trend, which took place since last June.
The gasoline released for consumption also shows an upward trend, rising by 23.5% year-on-year (17.0% in January 2022).
In turn, the loans for consumption and other purposes granted to households and non-profit institutions serving households increased by 1.6% in February 2022 (1.3% in January of the same year).
Investment
The available indicators for investment are all on the rise in February 2022, with cement sales (+32.2%) standing out. The construction and housing sectors also show dynamism regarding the number of buildings completed (+18.9%) and the housing loans (+2.0%). The dynamic growth of the housing market continues to be reflected in prices, which rose by 8.9% in February.
External demand
Although trade with foreign countries represents only a small part of the Region's total trade (the majority of it is with the mainland), it should be noted that both exports (+41.8%) and imports of goods (+40.9%) show the same trend as the movement of goods in ports (+28.4%), the most comprehensive indicator of trade with foreign countries. Among the indicators more related to the export of services, the growth of passengers in airports (+270.7%) is in line with withdrawals and purchases through automatic payment terminals (TPA) using international cards, +89.6% in February 2022 (+83.2% in the previous month).
Labour Market
Data from the organisations responsible for employment in the country and the Region show, in February 2022, an increase in job offers (+73.5%) and a decrease in both job applications (-6.7%) and registered unemployed (-5.5%).
Prices
In February 2022, the year-on-year inflation rate accelerated, reaching 3.6%, being more pronounced for goods (+4.6%) than for services (+2.1%). The underlying inflation rate (excluding unprocessed food products and energy, the latter with a price increase of about 13.4%) was 2.7%.
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