Share of Portugal’s exports in terms of GDP falls for second year running

The share of Portugal’s exports on GDP fell for the second year running in 2024 after having enjoyed a historic 50% of total GDP in 2022.

Part of the reason behind the strong percentage of exports in 2022 had to do with inflation, but with prices falling, it is making it difficult for Portugal to achieve that 50% mark.

Portugal exported a total of €132Bn in goods and services last year according to data from the National Statistics Institute.

Portugal’s national economy grew to €284Bn in 2024, Portuguese exports represented 46.6% of GDP.

That percentage was down on the year before (47.5%), which means that the weight of exports on GDP shrank by almost 1%.

The 50% record was achieved in 2022 during the PS government of António Costa when Portugal succeeded in gaining market share.

But with inflation reaching a peak in 2022, Portugal’s increase in its weight of exports was largely artificial because of price increases.

And since tourism is considered an export of services, it represented €27.7Bn in 2024 or one fifth of total exports.