Financial Management 10 Jul 2026 7 min read

Financial literacy in Portugal: do we know how to manage our money?

Portugal saves well and borrows prudently — but stumbles on the sums. The honest picture comes from surveys by Banco de Portugal, the OECD and S&P Global: good habits, fragile knowledge. And a skill that isn't learned from theory alone.

Financial Literacy
Portugal
Financial Education
Saving
Banco de Portugal

There are skills that school treated as so obvious it never got round to teaching them. Reading a bank statement. Understanding what an interest rate earns — or costs — after ten years. Knowing that 3% inflation silently turns a thousand euros sitting in an account into far less purchasing power. In Portugal, for generations, this was learned at home, over the counter, or not learned at all. The problem is that, in recent decades, the world changed the rules: it shifted onto each individual decisions that used to belong to the State or the employer — how to save for retirement, which credit to choose, where to put your savings — without handing over the instruction manual.

The scale of the problem is global, and it has been measured. The S&P Global Financial Literacy Survey, the largest study of its kind, surveyed more than 150,000 adults in over 140 countries and found that only 33% of adults worldwide are financially literate — that is, they grasp at least three of four basic concepts: numeracy, compound interest, inflation and risk diversification [1][2]. Among women, the rate drops to 30%. As Leora Klapper, lead economist at the World Bank and co-author of the study, summed it up: "With technology spreading the design of innovative banking services and payment methods, it's critical that we understand who knows what around the world" [1].

These four concepts are not an academic whim. They come from the work of economists Annamaria Lusardi and Olivia Mitchell, who condensed financial literacy into three questions — the famous "Big Three" — on interest, inflation and risk, now used in dozens of countries [3]. Lusardi, academic director of the Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center, put it plainly: "This data clearly shows we need to step up the effort to improve financial literacy around the world" [1].

Portugal in the mirror: good habits, fragile sums

So where does Portugal sit on this map? The first answer is uncomfortable. In the same S&P Global survey, only 26% of Portuguese adults were considered financially literate — the lowest rate in Western Europe [2]. Seen in isolation, that's a poor picture. But it would be unfair to stop there, because financial literacy isn't just what you know: it's also what you do.

That's where the fuller picture, drawn up at home, comes in. The Inquérito à Literacia Financeira da População Portuguesa (Portugal's Financial Literacy Survey), conducted by the Conselho Nacional de Supervisores Financeiros (Portugal's National Council of Financial Supervisors) as part of the Plano Nacional de Formação Financeira (Portugal's National Financial Education Plan), applies the OECD/INFE methodology, which combines three dimensions: knowledge, attitudes and behaviours. In the 3rd survey (2020), with 1,502 respondents, Portugal came 7th out of 26 countries, with 13.1 points on the overall indicator — above the participants' average (12.7) [4]. In the 4th survey (2023), now among 39 OECD/INFE economies, it dropped to 13th place, but stayed above average [5][6].

How can a 26% "among the worst" sit alongside a 7th or 13th place finish? The answer is the heart of this story. The two surveys agree on one point: people in Portugal score above average on financial attitudes and behaviours — they save, avoid impulse buying, manage their budget — but below average on knowledge [5]. We know how to be careful; we stumble when it's time to do the sums. And the S&P survey measures mainly that part, the knowledge part — hence the 26%.

The 2023 figures confirm the pattern. Banking inclusion is almost universal (96% have a current account) and financial well-being rose markedly — the relevant indicator went from 41.9 points in 2020 to 51.4 in 2023, putting Portugal in 7th place on that dimension [5]. In other words: the practical relationship with money improved. The Achilles' heel remains the same — understanding the mechanics behind the decisions.

School is the right answer — but it arrives late, and for too few

The good news is that the country has decided to act where it matters most: at the root. The Plano Nacional de Formação Financeira for 2026-2030 puts children and young people first, with school at its centre. The governor of Banco de Portugal, Álvaro Santos Pereira, has been unambiguous: "financial literacy has to be an absolute priority for the country" and "financial literacy is just as important as literacy in maths, science and Portuguese" [7]. At a time when life expectancy is rising and each person bears more responsibility for their own retirement, the governor goes further and calls it "a genuine tool of social protection" [8].

He's right. But there are two limits that no curriculum can solve on its own. The first is timing: the overwhelming majority of adults who today decide on credit, saving and retirement left school long ago — and aren't going back. The second runs deeper: financial literacy is less like a school subject and more like riding a bicycle. You can read everything about balance and pedals; you only really learn once you get on and feel the consequences. You learn to decide by deciding — and seeing what happens next.

That's why, alongside school, a category of everyday tools has gained ground: personal financial management apps. They don't replace knowledge, but they do something a manual can't — they turn your own numbers into a training ground. Instead of studying compound interest in the abstract, you watch your real money move, category by category, month after month. Literacy stops being theory and becomes a habit.

AtivaMoney graphic motif on education and financial literacy

Where AtivaMoney comes in — as a gym, not a manual

We built AtivaMoney on this conviction: financial literacy is trained through daily practice, not a single lesson. We're not a course, and we don't promise to teach you economics — we give you the gym where the concepts click into place because they're yours:

Visibility first: we bring your transactions together in one place and organise them by category, so you can see where your money actually goes. It's the first step of any literacy — no longer deciding in the dark.
Anticipating instead of reacting: Cashflow projects your balance for the coming weeks based on what we already know is coming in and going out. It's interest, inflation and monthly bills ceasing to be abstract and showing up in your own concrete case, before they catch you out.
Learning through context: as you categorise and tag, you start to recognise patterns — the "subscriptions effect", the real weight of housing costs, the season when you spend most. It's knowledge that sticks, because it was observed, not memorised.
No conflict of interest: we live off subscriptions, not off selling your data or pushing financial products on you. The tool works for you, not against your wallet.

None of this replaces school, Banco de Portugal or a good, reliable source. It complements them: while the country takes care of the next generation, you can train today, with the numbers you already have.

5 ways to train your financial literacy this week

Take the "Big Three" test. Look up Lusardi and Mitchell's three questions (interest, inflation, risk) and answer them honestly [3]. Knowing where you fall short is the starting point.
Track your money for seven days. Record or categorise everything that goes out. Almost everyone discovers one or two leaks they didn't expect.
Do the compound interest sums on your own real numbers. Take one of your savings accounts or loans and calculate the effect over 5 and 10 years. The abstract becomes concrete fast.
Project the end of the month before it arrives. Anticipating your balance is the habit that separates those who react from those who decide. Don't react. Anticipate.
Read one reliable source a month. The Todos Contam portal (Banco de Portugal's financial education website) and Cliente Bancário (Banco de Portugal's banking customer service portal) are free, in Portuguese and have no products to sell you.

Portugal isn't a country of people who are careless with money — the data says the opposite. It's a country that learned to be careful without anyone ever explaining the sums. Closing that gap between habit and knowledge is the work of the decade. And, unlike twenty years ago, today anyone can start that training this week — with their own numbers right in front of them.

Start free — no card

References

This article was translated from the Portuguese original.