Exports to Angola fell 39.9 percent, exports to the United States by 22.6 percent and by 29.6 percent to China. In terms of imports, there was a drop of 5.7 percent in purchases from Spain, which had the most significant effect on the overall drop in imports in the period, INE said.
There was also a significant drop in imports from Angola (-54.7 percent) and the United States (-23.4 percent), compared to July 2015.
The visible trade balance (not including services and other intangibles) in July was reduced by €174 million compared to July 2015, whilst the trade deficit, excluding fuels and other oil derivatives, fell by €13 million to €353 million.
On a more positive front, exports of textiles and clothing from Portugal increased by 5 percent year on year in the first seven months of the year (January-July), to €3.06 billion, a sector association official revealed.
The balance of trade for textiles and clothing totalled €813 million between January and July of this year compared to the same period of last year said the Portuguese Association of Textiles and Clothing (ATP - Associação Têxtil e Vestuário de Portugal), based on the latest information from the INE.
Textile exports, excluding home textiles, rose by 2 percent to €790 million, while clothing sales rose 7 percent to €1.858 million.
Although Spain was the biggest export destination for the sector (35 percent of the total and a rise of 11 percent in the first seven months, to €108.7 million), the performance of Scandinavian countries (Sweden, Finland and Denmark) along with Germany and Italy improved.
Portuguese sales of textiles and clothing to Finland rose by 23 percent to €3.3 million, to Denmark they increased by 5 percent year on year to €2.5 million and to Sweden improved by 19 percent to €11.5 million.
Portuguese exports to Germany rose 6 percent to €15.2 million in the first seven months and to Italy they increased by 12 percent to €14.1 million.