IREE (Inquérito Rápido e Excecional às Empresas) is a survey of a representative sample of non-financial companies headquarted in Portugal. It is implemented by Banco de Portugal and Statistics Portugal (INE) and aims at identifying some of the main effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on firms’ economic activity. The data is available at the firm level, starting April 2020. The most recent information dates the first fortnight of February 2021. Each wave counts about 5 thousand firms.

Nuno Palma and Jaime Reis constructed a data set on Portugal’s per capita GDP for the period 1527–1850. The authors discuss the data in their 2019 JEH paper and made it available here. We encourage other authors to let us know the data they can share with the research community. We are willing to announce it. When using the data by Palma and Reis please cite: Palma, N., & Reis, J.

The ability to collect and accumulate microdata has been a powerful function of central banks. In the scientific community, an increasing amount of research has been conducted using micro-level information. To enhance collaborations between central banks and researchers, an advanced data sharing platform is essential. The Banco de Portugal Microdata Research Laboratory (BPLIM) (Laboratório de Investigação em Microdados do Banco de Portugal) has been created to facilitate scientific research effort that makes use of microdata.

A protocol signed between Statistics Portugal (Instituto Nacional de Estatística - INE), the Fundação para Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) and the Direção-Geral de Estatísticas da Educação e Ciência do Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior (DGEEC-MCTES) gives researchers access to a collection of microdata sets for Portugal. The data includes detailed information on households, workers and firms, allowing in many cases for the construction of longitudinal data. The information released under this protocol is a fundamental for the understanding of the Portuguese society and economy and for the design of effective public policies.

Portuguese institutions collect a wide array of data that can be used for research purposes. The most important institutions leading this effort are undoubtedly Statistics Portugal (INE) and Banco de Portugal, but there are many other data owners and data producers, mostly belonging to the public administration, that are also willing to share their data with researchers. The type of data that is available ranges from simple data collections to very rich and detailed census-like administrative micro data sets that can be assembled into very long panels.