The objective of this article is to assess developments in private consumption in Portugal during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, using detailed information on domestic card payments. Similarly to the literature for other countries, we find evidence of asymmetrical impacts across types of goods and services purchased, consumption groups and regions. These appear to reflect differences in the impact of containment measures, agents’ mobility and change in consumption habits. A statistically significant although small role can be attributed to the incidence of the virus itself.