Regional agricultural statistics in Portugal (19th and 20th centuries): sources, problems and future perspectives

Abstract

The Portuguese historiography, following a European trend with several decades, has in recent years built long-term statistical series on the most diverse themes, thus enabling a greater accuracy of the interpretations of the past. Due to its high historical relevance, agriculture is one of the most pertinent themes, especially considering that, until the middle of the 20^th century, it occupied the daily lives of the majority of the Portuguese people. In this article we present the most recent historical series of agricultural statistics, detailing the archives and the sources that were the basis for their construction. In addition to expose these statistics, we intend to stimulate further investigations that can broaden the chronology, the products and the themes of the historical series of the Portuguese agricultural statistics. Therefore, we present a historical contextualization of the production of the Portuguese agricultural statistics, followed by a source guide and several suggestions for future research in different archives and sources. With this effort we aim to stimulate further research that, hopefully, will contribute to deepening the historical knowledge about Portuguese agriculture.