According to data from the National Statistics Institute (INE): “In counter-cycle with the behaviour of economic activity in Portugal, in which GDP decreased significantly in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic (-6.5 percent), the DNPA (National Expenditure on Environmental Protection) increased by 2.2 percent”, in 2020.

The DNPA was €3,334.4 million that year, which corresponds to 1.7 percent of GDP (gross domestic product).

“Societies were responsible for more than half of DNPA (53.3 percent), with Public Administrations and non-profit institutions serving families representing 25.8 percent and Families the remaining 20.9 percent”.

Waste management (40.3 percent) and wastewater management (32.4 percent) represent the largest contributions to that expense, with public education in the area of environmental protection "gaining expression", according to the statement from INE, which specifies that “Research and development activities (R&D) for the protection of the environment represented 21.8 percent” and that it is “in these institutional sectors that R&D contributed most to the DNPA”.

In 2020, employment in environmental protection “represented 1.0 percent of national employment” and increased by 8.3 percent, having decreased by 2.2 percent in the economy. As for investment in the production of services, it grew by 10.2 percent.

In a comparison with the other countries of the European Union and with 2019 being the last year with available data, “the weight of DNPA in GDP (1.7 percent) was below the EU27 average (2.0 percent)” and Portugal occupied the 20th position in relation to that 'per capita' expenditure, with €317.30 per inhabitant, almost half of the EU27 average (€629.60).