Market Trends of Portugal Mobile Payments Industry
This section covers the major market trends shaping the Portugal Mobile Payments Market according to our research experts:
Smartphone and Internet Penetration to drive the market
- Portugal is a small market, but it is growing quickly as the nation's internet infrastructure improves and smartphone adoption keeps rising. Trading Economics estimates that Portugal's unemployment rate decreased from 6.3% to 5.9% in the first quarter of 2022.
- Since the September quarter of 2002, it had the lowest unemployment rate ever. While employment climbed by 0.4% to 4.9 million, the number of unemployed individuals decreased by 6.7% on a quarterly basis to 308.4 thousand. Similar to the fall in the number of inactive people who are available to work but aren't looking for a job, the labor underutilization rate also moved down to 11.5% from 11.7%. Decreasing unemployment is a good sign for any nation's economy and it will have a positive impact on the studied market.
- According to the ITU, in 2020, the number of mobile subscriptions in Portugal was approximately 11.85 million. The highest number of subscriptions, around 14.05 million, was registered in 2008. This is another encouraging development for Portugal's mobile payment market.
- At the beginning of 2022, Portugal had 16.07 million mobile connections, according to data from GSMA. However, keep in mind that many individuals use more than one mobile connection, such as having one connection for personal use and another for business, so it's common for mobile connection numbers to greatly outnumber population numbers. According to data from GSMA, Portugal's mobile connections in January 2022 were equal to 158.3% of the country's entire population. Between 2021 and 2022, there were 303 thousand (+1.9%) more mobile connections in Portugal.
- Ookla data showed that the median fixed internet connection speed was 94.84 Mbps and the median mobile internet connection speed via cellular networks was 45.77 Mbps at the beginning of 2022. According to Ookla's data, Portugal's median mobile internet connection speed rose by 17.07 Mbps (+59.5%) in the year leading up to the beginning of 2022. In the meantime, according to Ookla's data, fixed internet connection speeds in Portugal climbed by 10.35 Mbps (+12.2%) over the same time frame. This is yet another positive sign for the studied market in the region.
Understand The Key Trends Shaping This Market
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E-commerce rise to drive the market
- According to PPRO, 5.5 million people made online purchases in 2020, and 1.67 million more did so in 2021 in Portugal. Furthermore, shoppers in Portugal increased the frequency of their monthly purchases, with 73% making purchases more frequently than three to five times each month.
- According to Statistics Portugal, in 2020, the highest share of e-commerce users in Portugal had made from 3-5 online orders in the previous three months, with less than 15% of respondents saying they had made more than 10 online purchases in the same period. Such statistics indicate the pandemic-induced boom in the e-commerce sector in Portugal, which has facilitated the adoption of mobile wallets owing to the convenience and rewards offered to users.
- Portuguese people are becoming increasingly concerned with home budgeting and the effects of consumption on the environment. One of the factors influencing product choice now includes sustainable development and product provenance. Portuguese people frequently select natural goods and organic foods because they care about their health and wellbeing. For natural items, a sizable portion of them is willing to spend more. However, this nation's people are not making impulsive purchases due to years of an economic slump.
- Bank cards, bank transfers, and direct debit are the top three online payment options in Portugal, although open invoices, also known as multiblanco, are among the second-most popular options. Customers can use ATMs to pay bills and invoices under this arrangement, which was in place until 1985. This software includes all significant banks in Portugal. Mobile wallets are slowly gaining traction in the country, and the demand is expected to mature with the rise of E-commerce.
- Additionally, Multibanco and PayPal have agreed to work together, making it possible to transfer money to digital wallets. Google Pay and Apple Pay are now accessible in Portugal for mobile payments. Nevertheless, businesses rely heavily on using cards and provide various payment options (including Multibanco-related).
