en 
According to the results of the latest Survey on the
Financial Situation of Families (ISFF) published by the Bank of Portugal, the
percentage of families with debt increases with age up to the age group 35-44
years and decreases in the following age groups reports CNN Portugal.
According to data from the Bank of Portugal, household
indebtedness is equivalent to 83.7% of their disposable income at the end of
the second quarter of this year. Despite being high, these values are well
below those recorded in the period from 2007 to 2013, when the household
indebtedness ratio was above 110% of disposable income.
The decline in interest rates since 2013 contributed greatly
to this fall in household indebtedness. However, this trend has changed a lot
in the last year, with the aggressive monetary policy of the European Central Bank which, in less than six months, raised the rate interest rate of the euro
from 0% to the current 2% and thus caused an increase in Euribor rates (which
serve as a reference for credits) to close to 3%, when less than a year ago it
was quoted at negative values.
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I moved here from a city that is incredibly prosperous, and the sights of Bentley's, Ferraris, Porsches, etc is normal. I was shocked at how many luxury cars I saw here, then I met some Portuguese people driving them and wondered how they could afford them, knowing how and where they lived.
Answer: they can't. It's all show.
Different nations have different ways of spending money, once they have some spare cash, i.e.: Brits on holidays, French on food, Italians on fashion, Germans on cars, Americans on their homes, etc. But the Portuguese seem to like spending money that they do not have, which is evident in the cars they drive.
And btw, I used to drive luxury cars myself, and stopped when I moved to Portugal. I don't see the point when it's such a walkable city and Ubers are dirt cheap.
By Hart from Lisbon on 19 Nov 2022, 09:24
Last Wednesday “Cif” bleach Gel was on my shopping list, then saw the ~1,5litres bottle at 3.99 euros and refused to buy it. Sure enough, 2 days after this, while reading extensive, daily Russo-Ukrainian War update article, there was this: “A UN senior official voiced optimism that Russia and Ukraine would agree on terms to resume exports of Russian ammonia via a pipeline to the Black Sea.” Why am I saying this? So people EVERYWHERE understand that WE´RE ALREADY PAYING for the war as it is.
By guida from Lisbon on 20 Nov 2022, 09:57
To luxury cars? Often people buy a house with more than 100% of mortgage, UK, NL, and with the years and increasing house prices they take an extra, or increase the mortgage and buy an expensive car. This goes on and on until... hell breaks loose. In other countries where I lived, Croatia, germany, but also Italy and even Portugal there is loads of property in families due to the past. And when people sell there is extra cash to spend or even live a lavish life. In the Netherlands the mortgages all combined are 2,5 times GDP, and other pay humongoes rents, so apart from the top 5-10% most people live on borrowed money..
By Jacques De la Haye from Other on 21 Nov 2022, 10:38
It's not just Portugal where people are spending for 'show', but across the world. But it's not very clever: unlike real estate, a car is a depreciating asset and will be worth considerably less in a few years' time on the second hand market. The logic would therefore be to spend as little as possible on a car, so that the amount you lose through depreciation will be correspondingly lower. However, anyone who does things for show will obviously be lacking in rational thought and basic common sense, so no point in telling them!
By Billy Bissett from Porto on 21 Nov 2022, 18:20