Lisbon, Sept. 8, 2025 (Lusa) - The CIP - Portuguese Business Confederation on Monday called for the creation of an industrial policy for the health sector, pointing out that exports in this sector grew by 85% in the first half of the year.

In a statement released today, the president of the CIP’s Health, Prevention and Well-being Council, João Pedro Almeida Lopes, called for the creation of an industrial policy for health, pointing out that “Portuguese businesses and researchers are aligned with this national strategy”.

To this end, he said it was important to involve the ministries of State Reform, Health, Economy and Territorial Cohesion, and Education, Science and Innovation in order to “reduce context costs” and “create conditions to attract investment and increase the country’s industrial capacity in the health sector”.

According to data from the Portuguese Agency for Investment and Foreign Trade (AICEP), exports in the health sector grew by 85% in the first half of the year, continuing the growth recorded last year.

In February, AICEP, based on data from the National Statistics Institute (INE), pointed out that healthcare exports rose 21.6% in 2024, to more than €4 billion.

"As is well known, all the most developed countries in the world have strong health sectors in terms of R&D [research and development] and industry, and Portugal has all the conditions to follow this pattern," added João Pedro Almeida Lopes.

In his view, with the existing skills in Portugal and the investments made and potential, it is possible to diversify markets and stimulate exports, not only of goods — such as medicines or medical devices — “but also of services, namely through conducting clinical trials”.

Last year, the US market accounted for 29.6% of health product exports, followed by Germany with 27.5%, Spain, France and Belgium.

At €4.036 billion, the health sector accounted for 5.1% of national exports.

JO/AYLS // AYLS

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