January posts largest services trade surplus ever

Portugal’s economy kicked off 2025 with the largest surplus in services trade ever recorded, posting over €2Bn.

It means that never before since statistics on such figures have been published have exports of services (including tourism) been so high compared to imports from overseas.

In January, the surplus on the balance of services hit €2.249Bn according to data from the Bank of Portugal and Portugal’s national statistics institute (INE).

This number reflects the difference between the €4.069Bn in services exported and the €1.820Bn imported.

The amount compares with the surplus of €1.927Bn seen at the beginning of 2023, meaning that there was a like-for-like increase of 17% on the trade balance figures posted last year.

Most of this record is down to tourism and holidays which have always been a positive factor on Portugal’s exports of services.

In January, Portugal sold €1.542Bn in holidays and other tourism services and imported significantly less at just €343 million.

Therefore, Portugal increased its services surplus from holidays and tourism to €1.198Bn on 2024 – a record. In comparison in 2024 the balance increased €108 million, up 9.8%.