According to the summary of the first annual results for 2025, exports slowed from the previous year, when they grew by 2%, while imports accelerated from 2024, when they also increased by 2%.

Excluding transactions without transfer of ownership, “the increase in imports (+2.3%) is mitigated, while exports show a reversal, with a decrease of 1.6%,” indicates the INE.

The statistics office highlights that fuels and lubricants “penalised the trade balance in 2025, which stood at -26,817 million euros when this category of goods was excluded”, due to the more pronounced increases in exports and imports.

This highlight also includes monthly international trade data, which indicates that in December 2025, exports fell by 0.7% and imports of goods fell by 2.7%, a trend influenced by the shutdown of Galp’s Sines refinery at the end of last year.

With regard to product categories, in December 2025, “there was a sharp decline in exports of fuels and lubricants (-24.2%)”, a trend that is largely “associated with the shutdown of national refinery units in the last months of the year”, explains INE.

As for partner countries, exports to the United States fell by 25.9%, mainly due to lower purchases of petrol, while exports to the United Kingdom fell by 21.5%, reflecting a decrease in passenger vehicle exports.

In terms of imports, “the decrease in fuels and lubricants (-52.7%) stands out, mainly crude oil from Brazil and Algeria, reflecting both the reduction in volume (-49.9%), still associated with the shutdown of national refinery units, and the fall in prices (-5.4%)”.

Looking at the main partner countries in the previous year, “there was a notable decrease in imports from Brazil (-83.3%) and, although not one of the main partner countries in the previous year, Algeria (-71.1%), essentially fuels and lubricants in both cases,” according to the statistics office.