Trade balance worsens to €818.62 million in November

Portugal’s trade balance recorded a deficit of €818.62 million in November, worsening the deficit concerning October 2021 and November 2020, according to data released on Wednesday by the Bank of Portugal.

Last October, the trade balance deficit (which aggregates exports and imports of goods and services) was €417.70 million, and in November 2020, it was €244.55 million.

According to the Bank of Portugal, the “improvement in the services balance surplus was not enough to offset the worsening of the goods balance deficit”.

In November 2021, the goods balance deficit increased by €1.061 billion compared to the same month of the previous year, to €1.816 billion, which according to the central bank, reflects “lower growth in exports than in imports (16.5% and 32.6%, respectively).” It added that export and import figures were higher than those recorded before the pandemic (2019).

According to the central bank’s statistics, in November, exports and imports of services increased by 58.2% and 40.5% respectively compared to November 2020, “exceeding the values observed before the pandemic (November 2019) for the first time in the year”.

The Bank of Portugal said the rises in travel and tourism, air transport and IT services contributed to this increase.

The travel and tourism account had a balance of €569 million in November, up from €207 million in the same period of 2020, but below the €622 million of 2019.

Travel and tourism exports and imports grew by 135.5% and 88.4%, respectively, compared to November 2020. Still, according to the central bank, exports and imports of travel and tourism in November 2021 correspond to 90.5% and 88.7% of the respective values observed in November 2019.

The Bank of Portugal also said that, until November 2021, an external surplus of €914 million was recorded, “€574 million more than in the same period of the previous year,” meaning that the Portuguese economy can finance itself abroad.