Lisbon, Dec. 10, 2025 (Lusa) - Exports of goods fell by 5.2% and imports fell by 3% in October, year-on-year, the first drop in imports since June 2024, the INE (Statistics Portugal) announced on Wednesday.
Given this development, the trade deficit in goods reached €2.805 billion, an increase of €77 million compared to October 2024. According to INE, fuels and lubricants accounted for 14% of the goods trade deficit in October 2025.
Excluding the effect of fuels and lubricants, the trade deficit was €2.413 billion, a deterioration of €365 million compared to the same period last year.
Prices continued to fall in October, with a 1.4% reduction in unit value indices for exports and 1.8% for imports (-1.3% and -2.2%, respectively, in September 2025).
In exports, the statistics office highlights the decrease in fuel and lubricant transactions (-42.5%), "reflecting a decline in the volume of exports in this product category (-37.6%), accompanied by a decrease in prices (-7.8%), a performance that is not unrelated to the shutdown of national refinery units".
In addition, there was also a drop in exports of industrial supplies (-7.3%), due to the "significant quantity of chemical products exported to the United States in the same period, corresponding mainly to transactions for work on commission (without transfer of ownership)".
In this regard, when analysing the main partner countries in 2024, the decline in the United States (-42.6%) stands out, mainly in the industrial supplies' category.
In cumulative terms for the year to October, exports increased by 1.0% year-on-year (+2.9% in the same period of 2024).
As for imports, the largest drop was also in fuels and lubricants (-42.4%), "mainly crude oil from Brazil, reflecting a decrease in the volume of imports in this product category (-48.0%), with a price increase (10.8%)".
As for the main partner countries, imports from Brazil decreased by 87.9%, while purchases from China increased by 29.8%, mainly in fuels and lubricants and industrial supplies.
In the year to October, imports increased by 5.5% compared to the same period last year (+1.2% in the same period of 2024).
MES/ADB // ADB.
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