globaltraffic.earth

Trade between Portugal and the United Kingdom

In 2024, Portugal exported $4.4 billion to the United Kingdom and imported $1.4 billion. Portugal ran a surplus of $3.1 billion with the United Kingdom, compared with a surplus of $1.8 billion in 2019. The United Kingdom was Portugal’s 8th largest trading partner (3% of its trade), and Portugal was the United Kingdom’s 37th (0.5%).

Summary

Portugal → United Kingdom
$4.4billion
United Kingdom → Portugal
$1.4billion
Portugal’s balance
$3.1billion

Balance

Portugal’s trade balance with the United Kingdom

Trade between Portugal and the United Kingdom grew 23% since 1995

USD billions (current). Portugal’s exports and imports; bars: its balance (green surplus, red deficit).

  • Exports 4.4
  • Imports 1.4
  • Balance +3.1

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearExportsImportsTrade balance
1995$2.5 billion$2.2 billion$257 million
1996$2.7 billion$2.3 billion$411 million
1997$3 billion$2.5 billion$517 million
1998$3.1 billion$2.5 billion$642 million
1999$3.1 billion$2.8 billion$338 million
2000$2.9 billion$2.5 billion$461 million
2001$2.5 billion$2 billion$415 million
2002$2.7 billion$2.1 billion$586 million
2003$3.4 billion$2.3 billion$1 billion
2004$3.8 billion$2.6 billion$1.1 billion
2005$3.5 billion$2.7 billion$846 million
2006$5.3 billion$2.9 billion$2.4 billion
2007$3.2 billion$3 billion$185 million
2008$3.3 billion$3.1 billion$153 million
2009$2.4 billion$2.4 billion$15 million
2010$2.8 billion$3 billion-$152 million
2011$3 billion$2.8 billion$231 million
2012$2.6 billion$2.1 billion$501 million
2013$3 billion$2.3 billion$769 million
2014$3.9 billion$2.3 billion$1.5 billion
2015$3.7 billion$2.1 billion$1.6 billion
2016$3.9 billion$2 billion$1.8 billion
2017$4.1 billion$2.1 billion$1.9 billion
2018$4.4 billion$2.5 billion$1.9 billion
2019$4.2 billion$2.4 billion$1.8 billion
2020$3.3 billion$2.2 billion$1.1 billion
2021$3.8 billion$1.4 billion$2.4 billion
2022$4.6 billion$1.3 billion$3.3 billion
2023$4.5 billion$1.4 billion$3.1 billion
2024$4.4 billion$1.4 billion$3.1 billion

What they sell each other

What Portugal sells to the United Kingdom

The top 10 headings in 2024, with their share of the total.

  1. Cars$675 million · 15.3%
    36 thousand tonnes · Portugal’s destinations
  2. Writing and printing paper$132 million · 3%
    84 thousand tonnes
  3. Leather footwear$130 million · 3%
    2 thousand tonnes
  4. Speedometers, taximeters and counters$112 million · 2.5%
    767 tonnes
  5. Wine$111 million · 2.5%
    25 thousand tonnes · the United Kingdom’s sources
  6. Tomato preserves$100 million · 2.3%
    61 thousand tonnes
  7. Cables and wire$99 million · 2.2%
    10 thousand tonnes · the United Kingdom’s sources
  8. Auto parts$95 million · 2.1%
    8 thousand tonnes · Portugal’s destinations
  9. Steel bars$94 million · 2.1%
    143 thousand tonnes
  10. T-shirts$94 million · 2.1%
    1 thousand tonnes

What the United Kingdom sells to Portugal

The top 10 headings in 2024, with their share of the total.

  1. Cars$229 million · 16.7%
    12 thousand tonnes · the United Kingdom’s destinations
  2. Ferrous scrap$152 million · 11.1%
    435 thousand tonnes · the United Kingdom’s destinations
  3. Turbojets and gas turbines$83 million · 6.1%
    36 tonnes · the United Kingdom’s destinations
  4. Spirits$46 million · 3.4%
    7 thousand tonnes
  5. Trucks$29 million · 2.1%
    3 thousand tonnes · the United Kingdom’s destinations
  6. Cyclic hydrocarbons$27 million · 2%
    27 thousand tonnes
  7. Stainless steel ingots and semi-finished products$23 million · 1.7%
    8 thousand tonnes
  8. Refined petroleum$20 million · 1.5%
    29 thousand tonnes · the United Kingdom’s destinations
  9. Glass cullet and scrap$19 million · 1.4%
    214 thousand tonnes
  10. Bulldozers and excavators$17 million · 1.2%
    3 thousand tonnes · the United Kingdom’s destinations

How it travels

Estimated sea route from Sines to Felixstowe.

The estimated sea route between Sines and Felixstowe is 1,086 nautical miles (2,011 km) long: ≈ 2.5–3 days at sea (at 18 and 14 knots).

Passages it crosses: Strait of Dover.

Sailing estimate without port calls, waiting or transshipment; not a schedule. One main reference port per country: in large countries it does not represent all of its ports.

Split by transport mode

  1. Sea$4.3 billion · 74.5%
  2. Air$1.5 billion · 25.5%

Mode estimated from value per kilo and geography; both directions together.

How much each matters to the other

The United Kingdom was Portugal’s 8th largest trading partner (3% of its trade), and Portugal was the United Kingdom’s 37th (0.5%).

The United Kingdom in Portugal’s trade
2.9%
The United Kingdom’s rank among Portugal’s partners
8th
Portugal in the United Kingdom’s trade
0.5%
Portugal’s rank among the United Kingdom’s partners
37th

Compare with

Other partners of Portugal

Other partners of the United Kingdom

Sources and methodology

Sources and licenses

Methodology

Goods trade from CEPII BACI (BACI_HS92_V202601), in current US dollars, with exports and imports reconciled between countries. The transport mode is our own estimate based on value per kilo and geography. The sea route comes from our own network derived from World Bank shipping density (not from nautical charts), between one main reference port per country (World Port Index); days are the distance at 14 and 18 knots, without port calls or waiting. Data up to 2024.