LISBON: In January, Portuguese exports rose 19.6 percent year-on-year and imports rose 22.3 percent year-on-year, with the trade deficit rising by €252 million in the period, the National Statistics Institute (INE) said.
According to INE, exports and imports of goods rose 12 percent and 13 percent on year, respectively, in December.
Excluding fuel and lubricants, exports rose 17.1 percent and imports 14.6 percent against the same month of 2016. The balance of trade deficit totalled €941 million in January of this year, or €252 million more than in January 2016.
According to INE the 19.6 percent rise in exports in January was due to Intra-EU trade, which rose 15.9 percent, as well as Extra-EU (outside the European Union) trade, which rose by 33 percent.
Imports also rose due to an increase in Intra-EU imports (16.8 percent) and imports from non EU countries (Extra-EU), which rose 41.3 percent.
