Portuguese public debt reached 130.2 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2014, well above the government's forecast of 127.2 percent, the Portuguese National Statistics Institute (INE) said on Thursday.

Portugal's public debt stood at over 225 billion euros last year, 5.6 billion euros more than in 2013, the INE said. Portugal public debt registered at 129.7 percent of GDP in 2013.

The Portuguese government has been implementing harsh austerity measures since it signed a 78-billion-euro bailout program with the troika of its international lenders -- the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank in May 2011. The country had a clean exit from the program in May last year.

Although Portugal's economy is improving since the second half of 2013, the country's public debt still remains very high in the past few years.