Lisbon, March 12, 2026 (Lusa) - Exports of goods fell by 14.1% in January, while imports fell by 2.5%, according to data released by Statistics Portugal (INE) on Thursday.
In the first month of the year, the trade deficit in goods widened by €778 million year-on-year, reaching €2.51 billion.
Looking at exports, January 2026 saw a ‘sharp decline’ in industrial supplies (-27.5%), a development that is mainly ‘associated with the significant amount of chemicals exported to Germany in the same period last year, particularly in the context of contract work transactions (without transfer of ownership)’.
In addition, there was also a decrease in exports of fuels and lubricants (-33.5%), reflecting reductions in both transaction volume (-25.5%) and prices (-10.7%), a behaviour that may still be associated with the shutdown of national refinery units in the last months of 2025, according to INE.
Excluding fuels and lubricants, exports fell by 12.9%, after rising by 0.9% in December.
As for the main partner countries, there were notable decreases in exports to Germany (-44.3%) and Spain (-7.4%), mainly due to the reduction in fuels and lubricants and industrial supplies.
With regard to imports, the statistics office explains that there was a notable decrease in industrial supplies (-11.6%), mainly chemical products from Ireland, associated with transactions without transfer of ownership.
In terms of supplier countries, there was a ‘sharp decrease in imports from Ireland (-85.9%) and an increase in imports from the Netherlands (+38.9%)’, a trend influenced by industrial supplies, particularly chemical products.
In this highlight, INE also updates the list of main partner countries, based on preliminary annual results for 2025.
In the main destination countries for national exports, there was a change in the top ten: Morocco left this group in 2025, being replaced by Angola, which ranked 14th in 2024.
In countries supplying national imports, there were no changes in the top ten; only their positions changed. Italy ceded fifth place to China, while Belgium rose one position to seventh and Ireland rose two positions to eighth. Brazil fell two positions to ninth, and the United States fell to tenth place.
MES/ADB // ADB.
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