Trade Balance in Portugal

The trade balance records the value of goods traded between Portuguese residents and the rest of the world over a period. It reflects external trade activity, measured as the difference between exports and imports, and is published by Statistics Portugal (INE).

It is derived as the difference between the value of goods exports and imports recorded in the external trade statistics. A positive balance is a trade surplus and a negative one a deficit. It is expressed in millions of euros.

The external balance is a component of GDP, so its trend affects growth, and it signals the competitiveness of the Portuguese economy. Portugal runs a structural trade deficit, so attention turns to whether tourism and services offset it.

The figures are not final: each release tends to revise earlier periods and the data arrive with some lag. It covers goods only, so it does not reflect the weight of services and tourism in Portugal's external account.