In a speech at the commemorative session of the 46th anniversary of the Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra, the governor of the Bank of Portugal said that the "powerful concept behind this enormous success of our economies and societies is the phenomenon of labour and human mobility. Without it, Europe has no future; without it, Portugal has no future."

He continued: "Almost two-thirds of the increase in production in the last five years in Portugal is associated with the increase in human and labour mobility in Portugal."

"Without this mobility, we would have lost two-thirds of economic growth," added Mário Centeno.

In the eurozone, 12 million jobs were created in the last five years, and of these, 7.2 million (60%) were filled by people working in a country other than their birthplace, said the governor of the Bank of Portugal.

Still on the labour market, the BdP's top official noted that, over the last ten years, wages paid in Portugal have almost doubled: "It's almost statistically dizzying to see that in ten years we've achieved what we've achieved in 900 years of history," he observed.

"A large part of this is increased employment; employment grew almost 40%; the rest is increases in the average wage. Why has the average wage in Portugal risen so dramatically? Yes, the minimum wage has increased, but because we've increased our qualifications like never before in our history," Mário Centeno emphasised.

He also mentioned that the most dynamic sectors in the figures he presented "are those that pay above-average wages," leaving aside, for example, the tourism sector.

"It's not tourism; it's scientific activities, information, communication; the most dynamic industrial sectors in terms of qualifications are the ones that have contributed most to this evolution," he said.

In what may have been his last public address before his term as head of the Bank of Portugal ends on the 19th, Centeno provided other data, noting, for example, that between 2008 and 2014 (the period corresponding to the global financial crisis and the intervention of the 'troika' in Portugal), investment in housing construction in Portugal fell by 83%.

In that five-year period, he added, the same sector decreased its production by approximately 60%.

"It's a huge challenge we face, but being at a university and also having some academic spirit, I have to say it's a good challenge," concluded Mário Centeno.