Many people may think of the United States, Britain, France, Germany, and Japan when they mention developed countries. If it comes to whether Portugal is a developed country, many people may hesitate for a moment and then say with less certainty: "It seems to be counted as well." There are four main international criteria for judging developed countries: income level, living standards, human development index, and degree of industrialization. The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations Development Programme, and the WTO have all divided countries into developed and developing countries according to different criteria.
The only 18 countries that have been identified as developed by these international organizations are the United States, Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Australia and New Zealand. Portugal is not in these 18 countries: some organizations consider Portugal to be developed, while others do not consider Portugal to be developed. In particular, it is not dazzling to place Portugal in Europe, where developed countries are gathered.
Portugal flourished in the 15th and 16th centuries. At that time, the Eurasian trade routes from Europe across the Indian Ocean through the Cape of Good Hope to India, China, and Japan were completely monopolized by the Portuguese. At that time, the combined area of the Portuguese mainland and all its colonies once reached 10.4 million square kilometers. Portugal's heyday sphere of influence spanned 3/4 of the earth's week. But the Portuguese did not use the resources they had plundered from their colonies for production and construction, but for the purchase of foreign luxuries.
Portugal, which was supposed to vigorously develop its own industries, prematurely became hedonistic. When the rest of Europe began to transition to capitalism, the Portuguese mindset remained confined to the Middle Ages. Since the 17th century Portugal has been on a path of continuous decay. Portugal's position in global colonial and trading activities was gradually replaced by the emerging Netherlands, Britain, and France. Portugal, which flourished in the Age of Discovery, gradually became a background board for international foreign affairs without a sense of existence and discourse.
In May 1926, there was a military coup in Portugal: Marshal Carmona came to power to establish a military dictatorship. Antonio Salazar, appointed By Carmona as Portuguese Minister of Finance, in 1931 organized the "National League". In 1932, In response to the financial crisis, Carmona promoted Salazar to prime minister and groomed him as his successor. The National League, formed by Salazar in 1933, enacted and promulgated a new constitution as the ruling party of Portugal: the abolition of all political parties except the National League in Portugal. Salazar followed the example of The Italian Mussolini in establishing a fascist dictatorship in Portugal.
Salazar was dictatorial in terms of form of government, but relatively moderate in terms of specific means of governance, so Salazar's Portugal was hailed as a "dictatorial state without a dictator". Salazar, a minister of finance, is the hallmark of Portugal's economic renaissance. When Salazar came to power, Portugal was long gone and in a rather bad economic situation. The military coup that broke out in Portugal at that time was essentially caused by the dissatisfaction of the officers and men of the army with their salaries.
At that time, the Portuguese economy bore the brunt of the problem of very serious inflation: in 1919 1 pound sterling was exchanged for 7.4 escudo, and by 1924 1 pound 127.4 escudo could be exchanged. During this period, the Portuguese government's fiscal revenue and expenditure were also seriously unbalanced, so it had to resort to selling silver, issuing more currency, and borrowing heavily from foreign countries. This practice of quenching thirst has undermined the credibility of the government while leading to a further exacerbation of the fiscal crisis. In addition, Portugal's level of industrialization has developed extremely slowly.
The lack of industrialization of the wealth seized during the Age of Discovery was one of the key reasons for Portugal's decline. When the British Industrial Revolution drew to a close in 1840, there were only 4 steam engines in Portugal for industrial production. Until 1881 Portugal had only 328 steam engines. This shows how far behind Portugal's industrialization was in Europe at that time. Salazar took office and carried out a series of reforms to the Portuguese economy in response to this situation. Salazar adopted a tight monetary and fiscal policy: cutting excess fiscal spending while raising tax rates.
Portugal abolished the gold standard in 1931, following britain. At the same time, Salazar has vigorously promoted infrastructure construction in Portugal. The national labor code led by Salazar in 1933 clearly defined the rights and duties of Portuguese workers. Under Salazar's rule, Portugal was orderly and fiscally stable, achieving some economic and social progress. After the outbreak of World War II, Salazar, like the fascist dictator Franco of neighboring Spain, was left and right between the Axis powers and the Allies to keep Portugal from getting involved in the war.
As a neutral country, Portugal was not affected by the war in World War II, but obtained considerable foreign exchange reserves through the export of strategic resources such as tungsten ore. After the end of World War II, the United States launched the Marshall Plan to assist war-torn Western European countries in economic reconstruction. In 1948 Portugal received assistance from the Marshall Plan of the United States, and in the same year Portugal joined the European Economic Cooperation Organization. In 1986 Portugal joined the European Community, the predecessor of the European Union. Since then, Portugal's economic development has been able to rely on the developed European market.
Portugal's current annual per capita GDP exceeds 20,000 euros. Such a level has actually reached the standards of developed countries. Of course, this is not high in developed countries, but it is not low, but it is at a medium level. Generally speaking, international countries with an annual per capita GDP of more than $18,000 can be called medium-developed countries in terms of income standards. In Portugal, as long as you have to purchase medical insurance, you can stay in public hospitals for free. If you purchase a high enough level of health insurance, you can also enjoy free medical treatment at some specific private hospitals.
Portuguese citizens enjoy 12 years of free and compulsory education: all public schools from primary to high school are free of charge, while university tuition fees usually only a few hundred euros. Of course, Portugal will also have various subsidies for some poor families. Portugal is the world's leading level in many areas such as average education level and per capita deposit amount, and Portugal's social welfare benefits such as education and medical care are relatively good. Portugal meets the criteria of developed countries in terms of income levels, living standards, human development index and other indicators.
The only problem is in terms of industrial structure. Portugal's level of industrialization is a long-standing problem. Today Portugal's industrial base is almost lackluster except for the winemaking, shoemaking and textile industries. Countries like Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, saudi arabia and other countries, which are also quite rich in per capita income, have been excluded from developed countries because of industrial structure problems. Of course, today's developed countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom have also shown signs of de-industrial materialization. It is true that countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom have long achieved industrialization, but most of the manufacturing industry in these countries has now shifted to developing countries.
The situation in Portugal is different from that in the United States and Britain: Portugal is not hollowed out by the transfer of industrial chains, but has never really industrialized. The United States, the United Kingdom and other countries have focused on the development of financial virtual economy after the transfer of physical manufacturing, while Portugal's economy mainly relies on tourism, services and foreign trade. Portugal has obvious gaps with the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries in terms of financial industry and scientific and technological innovation capabilities. This is also the reason why some international organizations do not consider Portugal to be a developed country, but most international organizations still classify Portugal as a developed country.
Portugal does meet the standards of developed countries in terms of income levels, social welfare and many other aspects. But Portugal does seem less dazzling in Europe, where developed countries are clustered. There is a clear gap between Portugal and the developed countries in Europe, such as Britain, France and Germany, in terms of industrialization level and infrastructure construction. In fact, when someone first arrives in Portugal, the impression of its infrastructure is that it is a large rural area. In the 2008 European debt crisis, Portugal, along with Spain, Italy, Greece, and Ireland, was derogatorily referred to as the "European Pig Five" due to the economic downturn.