Last year’s December exports rose 4.9% compared to the year before but this was not sufficient to mitigate the effect of those months in which Portugal’s companies exported less than expected.
In a year that was marked by a delayed recovery in the eurozone, the crisis in Ukraine, sanctions for Russia and a sharp decline in oil prices, the Portuguese exports of goods increased to pre-Troika growth levels of just 1.9%, the worst result since 2009.
The forecast from the Government for 2014 was for a 3.7% rise in exports of goods and services. The figures so far from the National Statistics Institute refer only to the sale of goods but it is unlikely in the extreme that services exports will make up for this poor performance.
Imports for 2014 reached €58.7 billion, up 3.2% on the previous year creating a trade deficit of €10.6 billion. The equivalent deficit for 2013 was €9.6 billion.
This surprisingly gloomy performance was down to a 30% decrease in the value of processed fuel exports which has been recognised by the Minister for the Economy, Pires de Lima who said the targets for 2015 will remain for exports to grow by 4.7% and imports to rise 4.4%.
"So far we see no strong reason to change," said Pires de Lima after a meeting of the Council of Industry, chaired by Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho who will not want to reduce targets before the forthcoming general election.
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