Business relationships
International trade has always been one of the main engines of the Portuguese economy. Since the early 2000s, the export of goods and services has been less brilliant than in the previous period, due to the decline in export prices, the strong euro and a loss of competitiveness of some industries. The European Union accounts for over 75% of Portuguese exports and imports. The main European customers of the Portugal are Spain, Germany, France and Italy and the United Kingdom. The most important suppliers are Spain, Germany, France and Italy. The North American market accounts for approximately 6.5%. of exports and approx.1.5% of imports. Portuguese-speaking Africa is an important partner of Portugal: a growing number of Portuguese companies are showing interest in these markets, which absorb 6% of Portuguese exports (2006); in particular Angola is Portugal’s fourth customer. Exports to Latin America have gradually grown to 2% of the total. Asia is another growing market. Textiles, clothing and footwear are the traditional products of Portuguese exports, to which have been added motor vehicles and other means of transport and technologically advanced products (molds for the plastic industry, electrical cables and wiring, transformers and microchips), which cover over 8% of exports. Another important item is made up of wood, cork, paper; in particular, Portugal is the world leader in cork, with a market share of 60% of global exports. The country is heavily dependent on imports of energy, machine tools, transportation equipment, food supplies. ● Until 2000, there was a considerable growth in foreign direct investment (FDI), which transformed Portugal into a net exporter of capital, reversing its traditional role; the European Union accounted for about 81% of total FDI. Since 2001, as a result of the fall in the foreign commercial market, FDI has decreased. In 2002, the two most important destination countries were Spain and the Netherlands. Since 2006, there has been a greater focus on Eastern European countries, particularly Poland. FDI in Portuguese-speaking African countries has also grown, especially in Angola. FDI into Portugal increased in the first half of the 2000s, except in 2002. The EU remains the most important source of capital, with Germany in first place, followed by Spain, France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. For Portugal economics and business, please check businesscarriers.com.
Economic conditions
The division of the active population by productive sectors shows a society in transformation: not yet deeply outsourced (with 60% of employees in services in 2008), it retains a relatively high share of employees in industry (almost 30%) and a percentage decidedly high number of employees in agriculture (more than 10%). Tourism is one of the most important sectors of the Portuguese economy and accounts for around 11% of the GDP. ● Economic growth del Portugal, determined by a decidedly positive performance of exports of goods and services driven by external demand, was above the European average for most of the 1990s, but the country began to retreat from 2001 and has definitely entered recession following the global financial and economic crisis of 2008-09 (-2.6% in 2009). After a phase of reduction of the deficit in the public sector (2.6% of GDP in 2007 compared to 6.1% in 2005), even ahead of the forecasts of the 2006-10 Growth and Stability Pact, the rate is again leavened in subsequent years (9.4% in 2009).
International trade has always been one of the main engines of the Portuguese economy. Since the early 2000s, the export of goods and services has been less brilliant than in the previous period, due to the decline in export prices, the strong euro and a loss of competitiveness of some industries. The European Union accounts for over 75% of Portuguese exports and imports. The main European customers of the Portugal are Spain, Germany, France and Italy. The North American market accounts for approximately 6.5% of exports and approximately 1.5% of imports. Portuguese-speaking Africa is an important partner of Portugal: a growing number of Portuguese companies are showing interest in these markets, which absorb 6% of Portuguese exports (2006); in particular Angola is Portugal’s fourth customer. Exports to Latin America have gradually grown to 2% of the total. Asia is another growing market. Textiles, clothing and footwear are the traditional products of Portuguese exports, to which have been added motor vehicles and other means of transport and technologically advanced products (molds for the plastic industry, electrical cables and wiring, transformers and microchips), which cover over 8% of exports. Another important item is made up of wood, cork, paper; in particular Portugal is the world leader in cork, with a market share equal to 60% of global exports. The country is heavily dependent on imports of energy, machine tools, transportation equipment,
Until 2000, there was a considerable growth in foreign direct investment (FDI), which transformed Portugal into a net exporter of capital, reversing its traditional role; the European Union accounted for about 81% of total FDI. Since 2001, as a result of the fall in the foreign commercial market, FDI has decreased. In 2002, the two most important destination countries were Spain and the Netherlands. Since 2006, there has been a greater focus on Eastern European countries, particularly Poland. FDI in Portuguese-speaking African countries has also grown, especially in Angola. FDI to Portugal grew in the early 2000s, except in 2002. The EU remains the most important source of capital, with Germany in first place, followed by Spain, France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
