Portuguese goods exports fell 14.1% in January while imports dropped 2.5%, according to data published today by the National Statistics Institute (INE).
In the first month of the year, the goods trade deficit worsened by €778 million compared to the same period last year, reaching €2.51 billion.
Among the top ten destinations for Portuguese exports, Morocco dropped out of the group, replaced by Angola, which had ranked 14th in 2024. Among supplier countries, the top ten remained unchanged, with only positional shifts: Italy ceded fifth place to China, Belgium rose one place to seventh, Ireland rose two places to eighth, Brazil fell two places to ninth and the United States dropped to tenth.
Looking at exports, January 2026 saw a “sharp decline” in industrial supplies (-27.5%), a trend mainly “associated with the significant volume of chemical products exported to Germany in the same period last year, primarily within the framework of toll manufacturing transactions (without transfer of ownership).” There was also a fall in exports of fuels and lubricants (-33.5%), reflecting reductions in both volume (-25.5%) and prices (-10.7%), which may also be linked to the shutdown of units at the national refinery in the final months of 2025, according to INE. Excluding fuels and lubricants, exports fell 12.9%, after rising 0.9% in December.
Among main trading partners, exports to Germany fell 43.3% and to Spain 7.4%, mainly due to reductions in fuels, lubricants and industrial supplies.
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On the imports side, the main driver was a decline in industrial supplies (-11.6%), primarily chemical products from Ireland linked to transactions without transfer of ownership. By supplier country, INE highlights a “sharp drop in imports from Ireland (-85.9%) and an increase in imports from the Netherlands (+38.9%),” driven by industrial supplies, particularly chemical products.
