In April 2022

Madeira’s economic growth accelerated

The Regional Indicator Economic Activity Indicator (RIEA) shows that, in April 2022 the regional economy continued to grow, but at a faster pace, when compared to the previous month.

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 April 2022 comprising 6 topics

Economic activity

As mentioned above, the RIEA shows that, in April 2022, the economic activity reinforced the growth trajectory, accelerating compared to the previous month, with the RIEA of April 2022, surpassing the values of the 8 previous months.

The recovery of the tourism sector contributed to this performance, with the overnight stays (excluding local accommodation under 10 beds) increasing by 760.8% in the month of reference.

Electricity distribution – an indicator closely linked to the economic activity – grew by 14.7% in April 2022, accelerating for the 3rd consecutive month. Also, with an upward trend stands the diesel released for consumption, which, in April 2022, grew by 18.9% year-on-year.

When analysing the ratio of formed and dissolved companies, for April 2022, the available data show that for each dissolved company in the Region, 2.1 new companies were formed, the highest monthly ratio of 2022.

Private consumption

One of the indicators that can be related to private consumption is the operations on the SIBS network with 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 18.0% in April 2022 (16.4% in the previous month), accelerating for the 4th month in a row.

The gasoline released for consumption also shows an upward trend, rising by 29.0% year-on-year (31.5% in March 2022).

In turn, the balance of loans for consumption and other purposes granted to households and non-profit institutions serving households increased by 1.6% in April 2022.

Investment

The indicators related to investment, except for licensed buildings, had a positive performance in April 2022, as shown by the increase in the sale of light cargo vehicles (+41.9%) and cement sales (+9.4%). The balance of housing loans grew by +1.8% and the value of bank appraisals for housing went up by 8.4%. On the contrary, licensed buildings dropped by 5.2%.

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 (+41.1%) and imports of goods (+26.4%) show the same trend as the movement of goods in ports (+30.2%), the most comprehensive indicator of the dynamism of external trade. Among the indicators more related to the export of services, the growth of passengers in airports (+557.7%) – accelerating for the 6th consecutive month – is in line with withdrawals and purchases through automatic payment terminals, with cards issued by international banks, which went up by 198.5% in April 2022 (+141.7% in the previous month).

Labour Market

Data from the organisations responsible for monitoring he labour market in the country and the Region show, in April 2022, an increase in job offers (+155.3%) and decrease in both job applications (-13.6%) and registered unemployed (-14.0%).

Prices

In April 2022, the year-on-year inflation rate accelerated, reaching 6.1%, being more pronounced for goods (+7.2%) than for services (+4.6%). The underlying inflation rate was 4.6%.

For more information, please click on:

• RIEA - In Focus (Portuguese only)

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