Portugal placed 6th in PISA exercise on financial literacy

Among the countries analysed, Portugal is in 6^th place in terms of the percentage of students with basic financial proficiency (86%) and in 7^th place in the overall financial literacy indicator (with 505 points), putting it in line with the average of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries.

This survey, carried out every three years and organised by the OECD, assesses the knowledge and skills considered essential for 15-year-old students to make financial decisions regarding their current lives and as they enter adulthood.

About 117,000 students were assessed on their financial literacy in 2018, across 20 participating countries of which 13, including Portugal, are OECD members.

Main findings

In 2018, 20 countries participated in the PISA financial literacy module: 13 OECD countries (Australia, Chile, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Spain, United States of America and seven Canadian provinces) and 7 non-OECD partner countries (Brazil, Bulgaria, Georgia, Indonesia, Peru, Russia and Serbia).

Portugal was classified in 6^th place in the percentage of students who possess at least basic financial proficiency (86%), which means that they have the ability to understand and apply the basic financial concepts they encounter on a day-to-day basis, specifically budgeting and undertaking simple financial transactions. These results are in line with the OECD average.

Among Portuguese students, 8.3% reached the highest level of skills, meaning that they can understand a broad range of financial concepts, some of which will be relevant to them in the long term, and are also capable of solving non-trivial financial problems. The OECD average was 10.5%.

The PISA results also indicate that many of these young people already use financial services and therefore have to deal with financial decisions. In Portugal, 45.2% of students have a bank account and 23.9% have a payment card. Over half of Portuguese students (58.2%) shopped online in the last year (alone or with a family member) and over a quarter (27.8%) made a payment using a mobile phone. Nevertheless, these financial inclusion statistics are below the OECD average.

The financial attitudes and behaviours of Portuguese students tend to be prudent, above the OECD average, and always occupy one of the three first positions in comparison to all the participating countries. Portuguese students like talking about money issues (64.4%) and as a rule already manage their own money (88.8%). A plurality of Portuguese students check how much money they have and the change they receive (94% in both cases, being the highest percentage in all countries under analysis). The majority (82.7%) compares prices between shops before buying a product with their own money and 71.2% wait until the product gets cheaper before buying it.

Parents and guardians are the main source of information for Portuguese students about money matters (94.7%), which is in line with the OECD average.

In all countries, the PISA 2018 results prove that there is still a large margin for improvement in the level of students’ financial literacy, which reinforces the need to continue investing in financial education in schools. As well as promoting financial literacy, schools also undertake a central role in the creation of a more equal society as students’ socio-economic contexts continue to be one of the factors that most influences levels of financial literacy.

About PISA

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a three-yearly survey of 15-year-olds, organised by the OECD since 2000.

This survey assesses whether students possess the knowledge and skills considered essential for a full participation in social and economic life.

The PISA assessments cover the main school subjects, namely reading, mathematics and science and since 2012 have included an optional module on young people’s financial literacy.