Exports of goods fell 14.1% in January 2026, while imports decreased 2.5%, reveals this Thursday, 12th, the National Statistics Institute (INE).
The trade balance deficit in goods worsened by 778 million compared to January 2025, standing at 2.5 billion.
INE points out that industrial supplies registered a strong contraction (-27.5%), largely linked to the lower output of chemical products to Germany, largely related to custom work transactions without transfer of ownership.
Exports of fuels and lubricants fell 33.5%, with a reduction in both the volume traded (-25.5%) and prices (-10.7%). The agency suggests that this evolution may be associated with the shutdown of national refinery units in the last months of 2025.
Excluding fuels and lubricants, exports fell 12.9%, after rising 0.9% in December.
Among the main destinations, significant drops in sales to Germany (-44.3%) and Spain (-7.4%) stand out, associated with the reduction in the aforementioned segments.
In imports, the decrease in industrial supplies was 11.6%, in particular due to the lower entry of chemical products from Ireland in transactions without transfer of ownership.
On the supplier countries side, imports from Ireland fell by 85.9%, while those from the Netherlands increased by 38.9%, influenced by industrial supplies.
INE also updated the map of trading partners based on preliminary data from 2025 and, in the top export destinations, Angola took the place previously occupied by Morocco. In the list of suppliers, there were no changes in the top ten, only changes in position — for example, China rose to fifth place and Ireland to eighth.
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